The Secret Organization of The Angels
by Marie1964
Summary: After Hogan receives a radio message meant for Carter's eyes, he begins to learn that two of his men are not what they appear to be.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: The Radio Message

It was a beautiful day at Stalag 13. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and the men were outside enjoying themselves. It had been a busy day with messages of all sorts coming in from London. Mostly routine- downed flyers that had to be whisked out of Germany, plus the usual supply depot that had to be blown up. Kinchloe was manning the radio in the hidden tunnel as usual, while Hogan sat nearby. All of a sudden, a most unusual message came in:

"Colonel, we just got a message—for Carter," Kinch said with slight disbelief. "It's a rather long message too- and I can't make it out, sir."

"Carter? That's funny—he never gets a message," Hogan replied, rubbing the back of his neck. "But I'd better go tell him he got one anyway. What's the code name of the sender? Is it Goldilocks?" He looked over the message, but figured that if he was supposed to know what was written, it would be in plain English. It wasn't- it was written in code.

"No, a new person with code name Wings."

Hogan proceeded to go up through the trap door that opened up through the bunk beds, stretched, and proceeded to go outside. He found Carter outside, who was joking around with the other three men and Schultz. After Hogan replied that no, he didn't have any chocolate for Schultz, he waited until the Sergeant of the Guard had returned to his duties before proceeding to give Carter the news.

"Apparently, a message came for you from Wings. Kinch didn't tell me what the message said, except that it was top secret and for your eyes only." Hogan tried his best to hide his surprise. He could imagine practically anybody receiving top-secret information, but Carter, his youngest man under his command? Klink would have to defect to the other side before that happened. Hogan suspected that he saw a slight glimmer of worry in his sergeant's eyes, but since he wasn't sure he didn't want to say anything. However, he definitely noticed Newkirk glancing away briefly for a split second. He thought about asking what his corporal was up to, but thought better of it. He didn't want this Wings to wait forever for a reply, especially since it seemed extremely important.

Carter began to walk at a brisk pace towards his Barracks, and as soon as Newkirk noticed that Hogan and the others had wandered off, ran to catch up. Both men could only guess why Wings had contacted them, especially when she had been given STRICT orders never to do so, especially while they were at Stalag 13. All three officers knew that Kinch, Hogan, and possibly others would immediately find out that a message had been sent through to Carter- which only made Newkirk wipe his brow, and Carter concentrate on how to best blow up the depot that Hogan had also informed him about. Newkirk could only hope that neither his commanding officer nor LeBeau or Kinchloe would find out that the message was intended for him, also. As a way to keep suspicion off of Newkirk, and avoid further complicating matters, Newkirk agreed to wait on his bunk for Carter to relay the message to him, after going downstairs to hear what Kinch had to say. As Carter reached the radio, he was relieved to find that Kinch displayed no sign that anything was amiss by the expression on his face- at least no noticeable sign. He read the message quickly first, then bought it upstairs to the barracks where he could work on deciphering it. Fortunately, after he had climbed up the ladder, he saw that all of the men were still outside. At least that was one thing they were glad of- that Wings had been smart enough to use a code that only the three of them knew, and not to say anything outright in plain English. They were also glad that Wings was smart enough that if she sent a message to Carter, she didn't have to mention Newkirk's name—that he would be there to read the message anyway. Without anybody else knowing about it, of course. That was to be of the utmost importance.

…

Back outside, Hogan leaned against the wall of his barracks, trying to figure out what the contents of the message could be, and why on earth Carter would have received it. Also, he had turned towards the barracks after Carter had left just in time to see Newkirk slip in after him. _That's odd,_ he thought to himself. _There was no mention of Newkirk's name in the message_. Clasping his hands behind his head, he stared at the Kommandantur's office that was across the way. He knew that if Carter and Newkirk wanted to talk about the message, that they would in due time. A slight wrinkle ran across his brow as he thought of the one possibility that he knew in his heart was impossible- the idea that Carter and Newkirk had either turned on the operation, or had been spies all along and were biding their time. After all, it wouldn't be the first time that one of his men had turned on him, as he remembered the ugly incident with Williams that had happened just a few weeks previously. [1] _But Carter and Newkirk-traitors? Klink has a better chance of voluntarily moving to the Russian Front._ That image made him smile to himself, and he felt better knowing that whatever the message was about, it would not be a danger to the operation.

…

Back inside their barracks, Carter had finished deciphering the message and read it to Newkirk.

"This is bad. I mean- Really bad!" Carter began

"What is it Carter? You don't think Wings has finally gone off her rocker, do you?" His voice dropped as he continued, "Of course, you can't really blame the girl, being 'ounded all 'ours of the nights. Bloody nosy officers- caring about more than just the end results. I mean, what do they think the Angels are? A bloody training camp for the Gestapo?"

"You don't think the Colonel would think that way- do you?"

"Nah mate, the gov'nor knows he can trust us with his life. … And he with ours."

"Well, I don't know- because it seems like Wings needs more people like Hogan on her side. Listen to this-

For Carter's eyes only. That means you Hogan!

Carter began reading the part of the message that, until then, had only been a series of letters:_ Stanley, Benjamin, you both need to know that I'm VERY sorry for having to talk to you like this, since I know I'm never, ever supposed to. Anyway, we've been found out. Again. I managed to burn most of the paperwork (fortunate that we keep so little)- but I know for a fact that your names were released. Not your fake code names either- that wouldn't be a problem, as you know. But your real names- in case your Staff Sergeant or Colonel decodes this before you do, I dare not even print your real last names. If you say they're trustworthy, they're trustworthy- but goodness knows what should happen if they're forced to talk. Anyway, we already took apart our offices, and we'll be down for the usual four months. Just wanted to tell you to be extra-careful now, especially if anybody should start acting suspicious. But I know you're both smart people- (especially you Benjamin, or I wouldn't have assigned you to where you are now.)_

Wings

Newkirk sat in silence for several minutes, running his real name "Benjamin" over and over again in his mind. As a safety precaution he had made himself forget it, and for good reason. Now he didn't even want to pronounce it out loud, knowing how foreign it would sound on his tongue- exactly like how German or French sounded to him in the beginning.

"Bloody 'ell!" was all he could respond with. "Just bloody 'ell! I suppose it's only a matter of weeks or days before the Colonel finds out."

"But he's not gonna find out! I don't care if Hochstetter himself gets suspicious and interrogates us. We're taking this secret to our grave."

"To our deaths, mate," Newkirk agreed. "To our deaths." They shook on it, and even though they knew they had each other to rely on, they couldn't have been more fearful about the future now that their names were out. They also knew "to our deaths" was quite improbable.

[1] This is a reference to the episode "There's One in Every Crowd."]


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: The Final Straw

Since none of the other men in Stalag 13 knew that Carter had received a message, life went on as usual. Hogan and his four team members were able to pull off the bombing of the depot without a hitch, which all the men were grateful for—especially Newkirk and Carter. They knew that commanding officer would wait for them to speak their minds about the message, since while being an important message to them, he was still heavily preoccupied with the daily missions that he had to plan and see that they ran successfully. Still, they knew by the way that Hogan looked at his two soldiers sometimes that he was still thinking about the message, and its contents. Newkirk and Carter had their own problems to worry about too, of course. Since their real names had already been linked, what would happen to them, and to the operation, if their location was discovered? Secondly, would anybody believe the truth about the terrible secret that they had managed to hide from the others for so long? From the very beginning of their mission they hated that they had to lie to their commanding officer, as well as to Kinch and LeBeau. It wasn't so much that they were afraid of being court-martialed, and having their military careers ended. They knew from the very beginning that this was a possibility that they would have to live with, but they had decided to sign up and proceed anyway. No, it was the ostracization that they knew they would experience from their comrades, from London, from society in general—from everybody that they knew and cared about. The pain and humiliation that it would cause for everyone was the worst thing on their minds. Of course, that was if they weren't killed first, if people _did_ believe the truth about them. Newkirk often had to stop himself from breaking out in a sweat if he even thought about his own past, and the couple of close calls that he once had.

…

Hogan knew that his men were excellent spies, and how much they had grown in the espionage business since their arrival at Stalag 13. He also remembered how quickly Carter and Newkirk had taken a liking to each other from the very beginning, even after Newkirk had forgotten to relay the message to a sleeping Carter that another new POW, Wagner, was not to be trusted. [2] Since Newkirk had arrived at the POW camp not too long before Carter, he was glad to see that his two new heroes had somebody that they could talk with, somebody that they could—and did—become friends with. Still, the whole message with Wings was beginning to bother him. He would often see his two men glance around shiftily, thought that they weren't being watched, and go off into a secluded area and talk for a couple of minutes. This might have bothered him even more, except that their professional skills were still top-notch. Hogan remarked to himself how Carter had never made better bombs than the ones used on the depot, and how Newkirk's fingers were as slick as ever when he stole the key from the German guard to open the gate to the depot without the guard feeling a thing.

_All right, I'll give them a week._ Hogan thought to himself. _Besides, relax, these are your men and you know you can trust them. But if they're still acting suspicious after that time, then we'll need to have a talk._

…

Things quickly grew worse for Carter and Newkirk. Though they tried their best to cover up their secret rendezvous, they knew that their commanding officer grew more suspicious by the day. Still, it wasn't just Hogan. Sometimes they would catch LeBeau and Kinch looking at them funny, if even for a split second or two, while still pretending that everything was the same as it had been before. One example is when they were all gathered around the radio, hearing news for Papa Bear, Kinch would sneak them a funny look before reading the information he had just received to Hogan and the others. Also, LeBeau would sometimes serve them their breakfast last, after serving the other two men.

Finally, exactly one week after Carter had received the message, he told Newkirk that he thought they better come up with a story to allow them to return to London. They were both very afraid that sooner or later the truth would come out, and that things would never be the same again for the team.

"Newkirk, I think it'd be best for everybody. I mean nobody seems to _trust_ us anymore," Carter said, rubbing the back of his neck. "And I may be new to this whole secret, but if the stories you tell are true then…" he let his voice trail off.

"Are you out of your ruddy mind Carter? Of course they'd be even _more_ suspicious if we came up with a story like that to get us back to merry ole London! I say we sleep on it and work it out tomorrow." They both agreed to do that, hoping that if they slept on it they could approach the problem with fresh minds in the morning.

Unfortunately, things finally came to a head in the morning.

The entire week, even while the two men were worrying about being discovered, they had always managed to be present for morning roll call. They could see that this also pleased Hogan, who had always insisted that no matter what dangerous mission they had or were about to pull off, or that whatever was on his men's minds, that they should _never_ arouse suspicion by missing the all-important morning and night calls. _Besides, we've got enough suspicion within our own team without needing to bother the Krauts_, thought Hogan. This morning, however, was to be completely different from all the others that week. Newkirk and Carter had only managed to get a couple of fitful hours of sleep before they had both decided that their problem wouldn't wait until the morning. As quiet as a dormouse, they had both slipped off their bunks and ever-so-quietly opened the wooden door that would lead outside their barracks, after making sure that Schultz and any other guards weren't around. Fortunately, Hogan, Kinch, LeBeau and the others in their barrack truly were asleep and didn't hear the men sneak outside. They were not afraid of being caught by any of the guards once they were outside—they knew that their secret would provide the means to protect themselves.

However, as much as the two men talked over their problems and tried to come up with a solution that would make even the slightest amount of sense for how they could throw suspicion off of them, nothing seemed to work. As much as they didn't want to, they even discussed the possibility of telling their Colonel the whole truth, and making them swear never to tell Kinchloe or LeBeau. They shook hands on it that this was only to be done as a measure of last resort. While they discussed the whole matter about Wings' message, they had completely lost track of time. Also, since they were concentrating so hard they couldn't hear Hogan inside the barracks asking around if anybody had seen them when it was time to line up for roll call. Before Hogan could ask if any of his men had seen them, Schultz barged inside the barracks (without knocking, as usual) and told Hogan to line his men up for the morning inspection. Since the Sergeant-of-the-Guard was familiar with the two missing men, he told Hogan that he would have to inform Klink of this immediately.

Producing a chocolate bar from inside his bomber jacket, Hogan simply told him, "No chocolate today Schultz? Too bad, we _just_ got in a shipment."

"Oh! My _favorite_ kind too! You better find Carter and Newkirk, Hogan." As he began to leave the barracks, he added "As for me? There are no missing prisoners; I see nothing!"

Hogan turned to his two other men. "LeBeau, Kinch, have you seen Newkirk or Carter? I would've sworn they were sleeping in the barracks with us last night."

"But non, mon Colonel. The last I saw of them was that they were sleeping like babies last night." LeBeau had been asked by Klink to bake one of his specialty French pastries for an officer's party that he was attending that night, and had been the last one to turn in for the previous night.

"Kinch?"

"Sorry sir, they were both sleeping when I let Baker take over for my duties last night."

"Where could they be? I know things have been, shall we say, _odd_ around here between them recently, but they've always showed up for roll call."

Back outside, Carter had noticed that the sun was coming up when he had to raise a hand to shield his eyes from the light. "Gosh, Newkirk, is it that late already? We better go back inside before the Colonel gets worried about us."

Before they could get inside the barracks though, they saw that the men had already lined up for roll call and that Klink was fast approaching Schultz, who still looked nervous since the two men had still been missing. Avoiding the eyes of Hogan and the others, the two men slid into their position as Klink was talking to Schultz. Fortunately for them, Schultz turned to give one last glance and an obvious smile appeared on his face as he saw that Carter and Newkirk had finally made it into their places.

"Herr Kommandant, all prisoners are present and accounted for."

"Good good. Now Schultz, I am going to be a busy man today, what with all this paperwork and getting ready for the party tonight. Leave word that I am not to be disturbed. That means you too, Hogan!" he said as he glanced at his Senior POW officer. Hogan just gave him a look saying "_Who, me? Never."_ "Dis-missed!" and with that, Klink quickly turned around and went back into his office. Hogan was secretly glad that Klink had his party to attend that night, and that another underground unit in the area had been assigned to spy on it, in case any important, classified information was discussed. He had a feeling that this was going to be a long day between him, Carter, and Newkirk.

All of the men turned to go back inside the barracks. All of them, that is, except Hogan and his two men. Turning to them, they could see that he was obviously annoyed that they had almost missed roll call.

"Ok you two, I thought I would try being patient and let you talk to me on your own terms. But this has gone far enough. I demand to know what is going on, and that's an order!"

[2] This is a reference to the pilot episode, "The Informer."


	3. Chapter 3

AN: This author gratefully acknowledges ColHogan for help in providing Klink's choice of beverage.

Chapter Three: Hunted

Now, if it was just their commanding officer that was angry at them, Carter and Newkirk thought that their secret would still be able to remain hidden. But just as Hogan had gotten out that last sentence, a Gestapo car pulled through the gates of Stalag 13. Hogan realized that something seemed different about this car and its occupant, but for the life of him he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Newkirk, though, knew right away who it was. While Hogan was still looking at the agent, who made his way into the Kommandantur's office, Newkirk shot Carter a warning glance. Carter originally took this to be the usual warning glance about any old Gestapo agent, until Newkirk leaned over and whispered in Carter's ear, _'Unter. _Carter's mind quickly filled with dread, while Newkirk's was already full of it. They both knew that Wing's message had been correct—the outside suspicion had already started.

Inside Klink's office, the Gestapo agent wasted no time in getting down to business. "Colonel Klink, I have come for the prisoners Carter and Newkirk."

Cowering before this new Gestapo agent, Klink managed to get out, "I am afraid you have me at a disadvantage, sir. You seem to know who I am, but who are you? Also, what crime has Carter and Newkirk committed?'

"I am Colonel Magerlein," replied the agent. Upon hearing that Magerlein outranked even Major Hochstetter, Klink slid further back into his chair. "As for the crime, that is none of your concern. But if you must know, they have been convicted of being saboteurs in this area. And stop quivering." Klink quickly snapped back into an upright position.

The Colonel gave Klink an evil smile, which immediately reminded him of the twisted expressions that Hochstetter often wore when he thought things were going his way. Klink thought that this Colonel knew about Papa Bear and his organization, and wanted to dismantle them from the ground up. After all, if Hogan really _was_ Papa Bear, as everybody suspected that he was, it would only make sense that Newkirk and Carter, who so often hung around him, would be part of his organization. Klink never suspected that this was not the real reason for why this Colonel Magerlein was here. The Colonel had more, shall we say, _personal_ goals. Besides, he knew that Klink would only laugh at him if he was informed of the real reason for why he was there.

…

All the while, Hogan and his men were listening into Klink's and Magerlein's conversation on the coffee pot that Hogan hid in his quarters. His usual plans and calculations were taking place in his mind as he quickly thought about how to save his men from this new Gestapo threat. He also was no longer angry at his men for keeping their secret, as he realized that now he had a far greater threat to deal with. Meanwhile, Newkirk and Carter had to keep themselves from breaking out into a sweat. What made it worse, they both thought, was that maybe Magerlein really was there to arrest them as saboteurs, and not that he had a very strong suspicion about their secret. For once in their lives, they knew that being arrested for the first suspicion, and not the second, would actually be a preferable alternative.

…

"But where is your proof that these men are saboteurs?" Klink squeamishly asked.

"We all know that the underground agent known as Papa Bear operates in this area, ja? A week ago a supply depot was blown up in this area. It was only today that the Gestapo has the evidence to connect Papa Bear and his operatives to that attack," Magerlein replied, looking Klink straight in the eye. This only made Klink cower out of fear again, before quickly sitting up.

"May I see this evidence?" Klink asked of the Colonel. Even though he had no great love for Hogan and his men, he didn't wish to see any harm fall upon them. He knew that Hogan had often saved him from being shipped off to the Russian Front, and he figured he owed it to them to repay the favor. Klink could only hope that he could come up with some excuse for why this Gestapo agent shouldn't arrest either Carter or Newkirk. Looking at his bottle of schnapps that was on his desk, he suddenly got an idea. Very hesitantly he began to put his plan into action.

"Would the Colonel care for a drink?

"Danke, Herr Kommandant. That would please me greatly."

Getting up, Klink poured a glass for himself. He began to pour a glass for the Colonel, before "accidently" spilling the schnapps all over the papers that Colonel Magerlein still had in his left hand which contained the evidence.

"Dummkopf! See what you have done!" The Colonel got up and glared at Klink, since he was obviously very angry that his evidence, as well as his entire left hand, was covered in the liquid. "It is a good thing for you that I have an extra copy of these papers back at Gestapo Headquarters. I will be back with the new papers tomorrow." With that, the Colonel left Klink's office, walked back and got inside his car, and left Stalag 13.

…

Back in Hogan's quarters inside his barracks, Hogan quickly thought about he and his men could get inside Gestapo headquarters and steal those extra papers, which he knew had to be locked up in a safe somewhere. He looked at his resident thief, Newkirk, who was quickly considering ideas of his own. _What the Gov'nor doesn't know is that no 'Unter works like that. Tonight, after the others have gone to bed, me and Carter need to sneak out to 'is 'ouse, which is where 'e keeps 'is papers. _Normally Newkirk would not be able to follow a cold trail, especially after the car was long gone. But he quietly accepted to himself the truth- that as far as his and Carter's secret went, this time there was no such thing as "normally." He would have to rely on all of the abilities that he had, abilities that he (and Carter) often suppressed to fit in with the others, to accomplish this mission. He knew that after he arrived at Colonel Magerlein's house that he would simply have to eliminate the threat. He also noticed that his nerves were making the hunger grow inside him. He winced as he remembered how, in the very beginning, he had made the mistake a couple of times of letting it overtake him. He knew that he would be able to accomplish both objectives after reaching the Colonel's house, and he quietly accepted this fate. This time he could not afford to have any regrets. He also knew that it would be up to Carter if he wanted to join him or not.

Hogan described his plan for dealing with Colonel Magerlein and the papers, which involved the usual bombs that would be supplied by Carter. While Carter believed the story that the Colonel had told Klink, that he and Newkirk were really going to be arrested as saboteurs the next day, Newkirk finally knew that this was not the Colonel's real purpose for coming to the Stalag that day. He had heard too many similar stories in the past, though not necessarily concerning the Krauts, to be fooled again. As the day wore on Newkirk noticed that his nerves were still there, as well as the hunger within him. He couldn't remember the last time that it had felt so strong, though the actual need for the substance had always been there. He had also noticed that the same feelings were present in Carter just by looking at him, though Kinch and LeBeau were too busy thinking about that night's mission to notice. Newkirk knew then that he would also go with him to Magerlein's house to obtain the necessary substance. _You can always tell by the eyes_ Newkirk thought to himself. The expression shown was not quite human.

Perhaps what was worse than his feelings, though, was the fact that he had discussed the situation and its implications with Carter, who also began to understand what the Colonel's knowledge could mean for the both of them. They knew that it was wrong of them to ask LeBeau and Kinch to risk their lives in an attack on Gestapo headquarters, and to allow their commanding officer to even go there. There was simply no need to. They were both very apprehensive as they accepted that the time had come to tell Hogan the truth about themselves. The secret that they had taken great pains to hide for so long would finally be revealed. They could only guess as to what his reaction would be, and to whether or not he would even believe them. They knew that they would have to bring him to Magerlein's house if he needed convincing.

Walking into his quarters, they could see that he was at his desk, busy putting the finishing touches on their mission for that night. Hogan noticed that his two men had walked in, and looked up. He was surprised to see that they looked so apprehensive. _I wonder what's wrong? We've gone on dozens of missions before._ He also noticed that there was a strange look in his men's eyes, and that it was especially fervent in Carter's. Taken aback, he invited both of them to sit down on his bunk, while finding that his earlier suspicions had returned.

"Ok, _now_ would you like to talk?" Hogan asked in his sarcastic manner. He was hoping that this would help take some of the edge off his suspicion. All the while he kept on noticing his two men's burning, glowing eyes, which he thought had almost a greenish tint.

"I'm afraid so, Gov'nor. It's not right for you to risk your life on this mission," came Newkirk's steady supply.

"We don't know if you'll believe us or not, sir, so perhaps you would like to come with us to Magerlein's house tonight?" Carter added. Hogan noticed that as his young sergeant spoke in a calm fashion his eyes were beginning to return to normal.

"What do you mean, his house? We have to get those papers away from that Gestapo agent. And how would you know where he lives anyway?"

"He doesn't keep them there, sir," Carter spoke before Newkirk had a chance to. "And we could find out where he lives."

"You can? How?" asked Hogan, as the only logical answer that came to his mind was that Carter and Newkirk were indeed fellow Gestapo agents. _"Are they going to arrest me, as well as Kinch and LeBeau?"_ Hogan thought to himself.

Newkirk and Carter both let out sighs that they didn't know they had been holding. They decided to take the plunge, knowing that it was now or never.

"You see, sir" they both said at the same time. "We're vampires."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four: Made to Believe

"You're _what?"_ Hogan asked, just to make sure that he had correctly heard what his two men had said.

"We're vampires, sir" Newkirk repeated. "Blokes who 'ave died a while back, but who aren't really dead, and who need blood to live—even though they're not alive." It suddenly occurred to him that neither he nor Carter had ever told a living person who they really were, let alone what a vampire was, and he found himself at a lost for words. _Never 'ad to, _Newkirk thought to himself. _Who in 'is right mind would believe us?_ Newkirk knew that he had to make his commanding officer believe him, since he wished to keep him safe and avoid carrying out the attack on Gestapo headquarters.

_I must be dreaming_ Hogan thought to himself, holding his head in his hands to try to understand what was being told him. _I am simply not hearing this_. Hogan thought that perhaps that night's mission had gone horribly wrong, the Gestapo had already caught him, and they were making himself hear things that were impossible.

"But you're not dreaming. We really _are_ vampires," Carter insisted to Hogan. Hogan looked at his young sergeant, and was startled to see that his eyes had returned to their previous greenish tint.

"How do you know what I'm thinking?" Hogan inquired of Carter. The longer the conversation was going on, the more certain Hogan was that he had been captured by the Gestapo. Or maybe even going crazy. _Anything but this_, Hogan thought to himself, messaging his forehead.

"It's a power of ours" Newkirk gently informed his friend and commanding officer. "All vampires can do it."

"Ok, let's _pretend_ that I buy what you two are telling me. How would you prove it?" Hogan remembered the fairy tales that he had heard growing up, and his hand instinctively went up to his neck. However, he saw that both Newkirk and Carter appeared saddened by this action, perhaps even emotionally hurt.

Carter and Newkirk looked over at each other, and sighed again. How could they cram everything that they wanted to tell their CO into only a couple of hours, before it was necessary for them to sneak out of the tunnel and travel to Colonel Magerlein's house? They knew that they could no longer follow Wing's instructions that she had sent to them in her radio message, or the couple of times before, about taking any action necessary to protect their secret. Besides, they both figured that even if Hogan _was_ forced to reveal their secret to the Gestapo, or anybody else for that matter, that no sane person would believe him. Or that no sane person would believe _that_ person. They had their proof of this in how their Colonel was taking their message—a man who himself had come up with some pretty unbelievable stories to fool the Krauts, such as Hochstetter and Burkhalter, that he often had to deal with.

Suddenly, right before Hogan's eyes, he saw his two men's regular canine teeth, both upper and lower, turn into very pointy fangs. Hogan also saw that his men's eyes had definitely turned green and that, in addition to the earlier burning, glowing shade that they had showed, were downright piercing, as though staring into Hogan's very soul. He felt himself shudder at the thought, even though it wasn't cold inside his quarters. He hadn't seen Newkirk pull any of his sleight of hand tricks that he was so famous for among the men of Stalag 13. He knew that there had been no way for his Corporal to quickly put on any sort of fake teeth. Even though Hogan had never been the fainting type, he had to hold onto his chair to keep from falling into an unconscious state.

"You really are vampires, aren't you?" Hogan admitted to his two men.

"That's what we've been trying to tell you" Newkirk replied as though this was a matter-of-fact thing to say. "We're vampires."

"But how? When?" Hogan's mind was suddenly full of questions.

Newkirk extended his hand as though meeting Hogan for the first time, and was visibly pleased when Hogan slowly shook it. He knew that Hogan deserved to hear the entire truth, since they had seemed to clear the first impossible hurtle. "Let me introduce meself. The name's Benjamin Putnam, common soldier of the British Army, born 1741, fought at the Battle of Bunker Hill during the American War for Independence, died June 17, 1775. It's an 'onor to meet you." He could see that Hogan was positively speechless.

Next came Carter's turn, who, following Newkirk's lead, also held out his hand but in a manner that was more timid. "My name's Stanly Miller, sir. My birth year is 1902, minding my own business, came upon a food riot during the Depression at a grocery store near the drug store—died during the fighting in 1933."

"Water. I need water," Hogan whispered in a hoarse voice, tugging at his collar. He simply could not believe what he was hearing.

Quick as a flash, Newkirk reappeared with a glass of water. Hogan barely saw his man getting up, let alone sitting back down again.

"Thanks Newkirk," Hogan replied after gulping down the entire glass in one swallow. "But still… _how?_'

"I didn't die right away. The American shot me in me leg, bled and 'urt like 'ell for a while it did. After the battle 'ad stopped, before the bloody American," Newkirk stopped himself, looking over at his Colonel while rubbing the back of his neck. "Sorry Gov'nor. Didn't mean any offense."

"None taken. Go on," Hogan replied. He knew that whenever Newkirk felt like talking about his past, he had better listen. And this was certainly a past story to be told.

"Anyway, one of me mates saw that I was still alive, and carried me off the battle field before the other side got me." Newkirk had made sure not to use the word "enemy." "But I was dyin', and we both knew it. 'E said that 'e 'ad a way to make me feel better. I decided to listen to 'im… 'aven't seen 'ide nor 'air of 'im since."

"And you Carter? How did you become a vampire?"

"It's change sir," Carter gently corrected his CO. "You mean how did I _change_ into a vampire. Newkirk taught me," Carter added with his usual smile, but which looked oddly out of place with his fangs visible.

"Newkirk taught you? What does that mean?" Hogan asked. He saw that Carter was about to reply before Newkirk stopped him.

"Not all in one day. It's gonna take time to explain everything correctly." Newkirk figured that a lot of the story could wait: How surprised he and Carter were to find out that the other was a vampire; how confused Carter was at the beginning, since he was a young vampire. Newkirk had remembered teaching Carter everything he knew in the beginning about dealing with what they both were, and how he had returned of his own free will, and with Wing's blessing, back to Stalag 13 after escaping to London. Hearing what Newkirk said, Hogan could only nod his head slowly up and down. While he believed that his men were telling him the truth, since he had obviously seen their fangs and their eyes, he still could not quite _accept_ it.

Carter continued as before. "A policeman was able to stop the fight, but I had been badly beaten. A concussion. I was rushed to a hospital, but the doctors said that there was nothing they could do for me. They filed out, and…" It was hard for Carter to finish, since he was still a young vampire. He had accepted his fate and found that he loved his new abilities, but once in a blue moon found himself wishing he could go back to being human again. He had to fight to hold back the tears and continue telling Hogan what had happened to him. "I was angry, sad, and frightened. I saw that one of the doctors was looking at me kinda funny though, and didn't make it out the door. He stopped and came back to me, and said that there was one way I could survive…. I wished that I knew then what I know now."

Hogan sat in silence for several minutes, slightly hunched over, his head resting in his hands on top of his knee. He tried to digest the information that his two men had just told him. Anytime he found himself doubting their stories all he had to do was look at their eyes, which were as green as they had ever been. After that time had passed he swallowed what little saliva he had before continuing the conversation.

"So vampires, huh?" It was more of a statement than a question. "You mean like in _Dracula?"_

"Sort of. Except that there are certain differences between that movie and us," Newkirk replied cautiously. He knew that he had to make sure that his commanding officer didn't receive the wrong impression. "For starters, we can't turn into wolves, bats, or fog. We don't sleep in coffins," he indicated with his head to the barracks that were outside of the quarters. "We can come out during the day, and though we can read minds, we can't control them. We're stuck in this bloody war, same as you. We would 'ave used it on 'im if we could." Newkirk didn't have to say who "'im" was for Hogan to understand that he was referring to the Fuhrer. "That power increases with age, but it doesn't always work. But we _do_ 'ave incredible speed, strength, and endurance. We can also jump 'igher than regular 'umans- 20 feet off the ground. It's also bloody 'ard to kill us. We're not affected by the usual cross or 'oly water." Newkirk thought about going on, but stopped himself. In case some Gestapo agent _was_ crazy enough to believe Hogan if he was ever forced to talk, he didn't need them knowing that the only way they could be killed was an object, such as a stake or a bullet, piercing the heart.

"Plus Dracula's evil, killing Lucy and hurting Mina. We would never do that to you or Kinch or LeBeau," Carter added. "We may not be on the same side in life, but we're certainly on the same side in this war. Some vampires have a tendency to be loyal to a fault. Tell him about it Newkirk."

"You see, after the war I stayed on for a bit in America, trying to learn the ropes, as it were. I saw that America wasn't all bad, so I didn't fight in the next war," Newkirk stated, making an unspoken reference to the War of 1812. He sighed before continuing, "But I've been loyal to me country ever since—long as it's on the right side, you know. But it's been 'ard on me, sir, especially in the beginning, 'aving to keep to the shadows and all, 'aving to learn to pickpocket to avoid settling down, remembering to send me death report to the paper every time I moved."

Hogan gave his Corporal a very quizzical look, which let Newkirk know that he had to explain himself further. "It wasn't so bad in the beginning, but some people get suspicious when they see the Census records and that you 'aven't died in one 'undred years. New names are important. In 30 years or so Stan—I mean Andrew's going to need a new name too."

"I am? You didn't tell me this," Carter told his friend in surprise. "I mean the doctor told me about it the first time, but not that I would have to keep on doing it."

"Must have slipped me mind. But now you know."

Hogan was about to ask them why they hadn't used any of these abilities on previous missions. _It certainly would have made things easier_ he thought to himself. But before he could even begin to form the words, he began to understand. He knew that this secret must be so great for his men that they would never have been able to inform him of this outright.

"In addition to needing blood to keep us alive, it's really the only thing that provides us sustenance. We can only taste the small amount of food that has a really strong flavor," Carter said, taking over the conversation from Newkirk. "The rest of the time LeBeau might as well be serving us cardboard. But I mean normal people eat, don't they?" Hogan could only nod his head.

"But what does all this have to do with where Colonel Magerlein keeps his papers? Why wouldn't he keep them at Gestapo headquarters?" Hogan thought for a second before adding, "Can you track?"

"We can't do that- that would be a neat trick though," Carter said. "Like Newkirk said, we can read minds. If Magerlein's at home, he must be aware of his surroundings, right? We can use that information to find him. Oh, almost forgot. We can sometimes tell what a man has been thinking several hours before the present time. We'll be able to know what the outside of his house looks like, and," Carter paused before breaking out into another one of his fang-filled smiles, "Since the Colonel thought about how to get to his house, even subconsciously, we can tell how to get there."

"But what about the papers?" Hogan persistently asked of his two men.

"Did you notice that the Colonel appeared somewhat different? And that 'e never actually showed 'is papers to Klink? I could tell by reading 'is mind what 'is intentions were, though I did have me doubts at times, which is why you don't 'ave to go out to 'Eadquarters. 'Unters- bloody blokes that 'unt vampires, sometimes for a living—when they know they 'ave their mark, they usually write their knowledge down. I suspect that Magerlein's first papers may very well 'ave been about us as saboteurs, but that the rest were about 'is suspicions."

"How do you know this Colonel was suspicious about you? Even if he is a Hunter, you have to admit that this is a pretty fanciful thing to believe."

"Because of Wing's message," Carter blurted out.

"Carter! You know that message was meant for us only!" Newkirk shot Carter an angry glance before adding, to Hogan "'E's right sir. 'Ere, long as you know about it you better read it."

Hogan quickly read over the message, but let his eyes linger on the second to last sentence. _Just wanted to tell you to be extra-careful now, especially if anybody should start acting suspicious. _Hogan let out a sigh. _Vampires or not, these are my men that this Colonel Magerlein wants_, Hogan thought to himself. _I thought that vampires were evil, but apparently they're not—even if Newkirk did fight against my country at one time. If it's a fight this Colonel wants, it's a fight he's going to get. My men have always been there for me, and I'm going to be there for them. _He would let himself wonder about what the rest of the message meant after he had completed their mission.

"Please don't do that sir" Carter said. "You really don't have to." He didn't mean to, but he could tell that his commanding officer was obviously annoyed.

"New rule. Nobody reads my mind without my permission. Is that understood?" Hogan requested of Newkirk and Carter. Both men shook their heads on it.

"You can come sir, but I'm warning you, things are going to get… dodgy," Newkirk cautioned before adding, "You might not like what you see."

In his usual sarcastic manner, Hogan asked, "What's the worst that can happen?"

Newkirk and Carter quickly exchanged silent glances, which their Colonel didn't see. They knew that it was entirely possible that Magerlein could be waiting for them. At least he was purely human, and wouldn't possess any extraordinary threat to their Colonel. Plus, they both knew how stubborn he could be when he wanted something. But perhaps that was the least of their problems. Even if he could accept them being vampires, how would he feel once he discovered the _true_ nature of their hunger, their longing and desire for the necessary substance?

"There's only one problem," Carter began.

"_One_ problem? You mean _besides_ the fact that Colonel Magerlein is after you?"

Newkirk decided to finish for Carter. "It's about Kinch and LeBeau. Our secret is very important to us, so we need some reason for why they're not coming with us to Gestapo 'Eadquarters tonight." He looked away before quietly, but loud enough for Hogan to hear, adding "But if we 'ave to tell them, we will."

Hogan's attention had been so mesmerized by the story that his two men were telling him that he almost forgot about his radio and cooking experts. "I'll deal with them. You get prepared doing… whatever it is that vampires do."

He hardly noticed them getting up from the bunk to leave his quarters. It was as though they had simply and slowly vanished into thin air.


	5. Chapter 5

AN: Since this chapter deals with Newkirk's and Carter's obtaining their necessary blood substance, some readers might find some parts a little gruesome.

Chapter Five: At the House of the Rising Moon

After his two men had left, Hogan found himself pacing up and down his quarters, his hands clasped behind his back. He knew that Newkirk and Carter had a right to protect their secret, and that they had only told him about it out of the necessity of keeping him safe. _But what about Kinch and LeBeau? They'll be wondering why they aren't going to Gestapo Headquarters tonight to get those papers away from Colonel Magerlein—especially after the way that Carter and Newkirk have been acting all week._ Hogan felt a small headache begin to form as he tried to think of some excuse to tell his two other men. Fortunately, a solution presented itself in the form of Sergeant Schultz.

…

In addition to the American chocolate that Hogan and his men often used to bribe Schultz to look the other way when he caught them performing some of their espionage activities, he also had an appetite for LeBeau's cooking. He knew that Klink had his officer's party to attend that night, and that the Kommandant had asked LeBeau to make one of his apple strudels for the occasion. While Klink was busy getting ready in his private quarters, Schultz noticed that he had left the pastry on his desk inside the Kommandantur's office. _Certainly nobody will miss just one bite_ Schultz thought to himself. Before he knew it, Klink had come back into his quarters to pick up the strudel, only to find that Schultz had eaten all of it.

"Schultz! What have you done?" Klink asked, his annoyance evident in his voice. "You know that strudel was supposed to be for the officer's party tonight."

"I am sorry, sir. But when I saw LeBeau's strudel I could not help myself…Is there anything I can do to help make it up?"

"Yes, go tell Hogan that I'll need to take Corporal LeBeau with me to the party tonight. He'll just have to make up something on the spot—I hope for both our sakes that he's up to it. Tell him that I'll need one of his men to be a waiter as well. Sergeant Kinchloe would be a good man for the job.…. And don't forget, it's time for roll call as well."

"Jawohl, Herr Kommandant." With that, Schultz quickly left the office and walked over to the barracks where Hogan and his men were to inform him of Klink's requests.

…

Back inside his quarters, Hogan had stopped his pacing and was just about to leave his quarters to give his reason for why he didn't need Kinch and LeBeau to come with him on the bombing raid that night. He had thought of an excuse just in time, as he noticed that he didn't have a moment to lose before roll call. Before he left his quarters he heard Schultz ordering the men to file out, and he hurried to catch up with them. His four men gathered around him, and he gestured for them to file out as well. "We'll talk later," he told them, as he noticed that they were all looking at him to tell them his final plans on that night's mission. All four men nodded.

That night's roll call was like the hundreds that had happened before, except for one slight difference. Just as all of the men were being dismissed back inside the barracks, Schultz approached Hogan and relayed Klink's message to him. Hogan let out an inaudible sigh, since he was very happy that of all the men that Klink could choose from to be a waiter for the party, Kinch was the one that he had picked. Of course, the fact that he needed LeBeau with him that night didn't hurt either. After Schultz had left, he noticed that his four men were hanging around just inside the barracks, with the door cracked open. Once inside, he motioned with his hand for them to follow him into his quarters, where he discussed the change in plans with them. Hogan had originally intended to slip out thirty minutes after Klink had left, and neither Carter and Newkirk's earlier news nor this new piece of information were cause for him to change his mind.

Hogan looked at the faces of his men. "Kinch, LeBeau, you better go with Klink as requested. Even he'll get suspicious if I say that you can't come with us tonight—Magerlein's papers or not."

"We can't leave you sir," Kinch said. "You'll never be able to manage this mission on your own."

"Kinch is right, mon Colonel. It is too dangerous!"

"We'll manage. Besides," Hogan added with his usual smile, "I know that another underground unit has been assigned to spy on the party, but it wouldn't hurt to have two extra pairs of eyes and ears over there."

"Oui. But only since you said so," LeBeau agreed, still very hesitant about leaving his Colonel to carry out the mission with two less men than before. With that, Kinch and LeBeau dejectedly left Hogan's quarters and the barracks, and slowly made their way in silence over to Klink, who by now had made of one his guards bring his car around. Hogan watched from his window as the car drove out of sight, silently wishing his two men the best of luck. Turning around, he sighed as he saw Carter and Newkirk were sitting on the Colonel's lower bunk. _Well, here goes nothing_ Hogan thought to himself. _Stealing those papers will be one thing, but stealing them with two vampires will be quite another._

As Carter saw his commanding officer turn around, he slowly got to his feet. Hogan walked over to them, and saw that his sergeant's eyes had turned their greenish tint again. He was about to speak to Newkirk to ask him how he wanted to proceed with the mission, but he stopped when he saw that his corporal wasn't even looking at him. His green eyes seemed to be staring off into the distance with enough concentration to burn a hole through Hogan's desk.

Hogan would have been surprised if Carter hadn't whispered in his ear, "He's getting to know the land, sir. I mean, he's reading the Colonel's mind to figure out how to get to his house." Hogan could only nod.

After what seemed like an eternity but was only ten minutes or so, Newkirk slowly shook his head and his eyes returned to their normal color. Standing up, he told his Colonel, "I know 'ow to get to Colonel Magerlein's 'ouse, sir. Fortunately 'e only lives a couple of miles from 'ere, on the edge of town. Shouldn't be a problem in getting there."

"So what's the plan?" Upon saying those words, Hogan immediately realized the irony of them. _And here I thought _I _was the commanding officer. But for once, I'll have to admit that I'm out of my element._

"Simple—we go to 'is 'ouse, take 'im out… 'ave ourselves a light snack." He patted his jacket pocket, but stopped when he saw that Hogan was looking at him and had seen his slight movement. He sighed, and took out a couple of medium-sized vials that could each hold roughly eight ounces.

"What are the vials for?" Hogan asked, thinking it was an innocent enough question.

Newkirk's green eyes flashed for a second before he exclaimed "Blimey! Do I 'ave to explain everything to you?" He immediately regretted his small outburst when he saw that Hogan's expression was equal parts pained and annoyed. "Sorry sir, it's just that you're the first 'uman we've ever told our secret to…You know 'ow you sometimes send me and Carter out together on missions?" He continued before Hogan had a chance to reply in the affirmative. "Usually we stop at the 'ospital before getting back into camp, to steal a pint, a quart, whatever we can get our 'ands on. That usually 'olds us over for a week or two. We could probably get by on less, but younger vampires, like Carter, need more blood to survive. We know we could never 'ide the substance in the barracks—not with you and the others around. We 'ave a spot by the tree stump, where you and the Krauts would never think to look, and take a swallow or two before or after a mission." He slowly added, "We never kill—like Carter said, we're not evil, or monsters, though of course some people differ in their opinions. But the Kraut Colonel knows too much—whatever we can't finish…" he held up the vials. In a barely audible voice he added "We'll fill as much as we can fit into 'ere." He was reminded of why he didn't want to explain any more about what he and Carter were, as he saw Hogan trying to hide his look of disgust mixed with a small tinge of fear. Newkirk sighed before adding, "We've been fresh out for four days now sir—it's very 'ard in break into the 'ospital, especially since we 'ave to be back in camp at a certain time to avoid suspicion, and with all the doctors and nurses around…. We're still on the same side, sir—that will _never_ change." Newkirk was relieved as Hogan seemed to be repeating that last sentence in his head, slowly nodding to himself.

Hogan slowly broke out into a smile before saying, "Well, if vampires exist, I'm glad you're on our side…. There aren't any Nazi vampires, are there? That's the _last_ thing we need," his smile turning into an expression of worry.

"I wouldn't know. Not like we all 'ang out at the local pub or anything."

Carter, who had been standing quietly between Hogan and Newkirk the entire time, glanced down at his watch and saw that the thirty minutes had passed. He informed his two friends of this, and they quickly made their way out of Hogan's quarters, through the barracks, down the tunnel and then out of the tree stump.

Slowly and silently the three men made their way to Colonel Magerlein's house, Newkirk leading the way with Carter bringing up the rear, the two men's green eyes shining lightly in the night. Normally Hogan would be behind Carter, since he always wanted to make sure that his men were safe at all times. However, for a change, tonight they wanted to make sure that Hogan was between them, since the last thing they needed was Magerlein or somebody else sneaking up on them. They knew that the roles were reversed that night—it was _them_ who needed to protect _him_. To all three men's relief, they were able to find the Colonel's house without running into any German guards. Newkirk saw that the house was just as he had seen it in his mind's eye—two stories, and pretty ordinary looking. Still, Newkirk and Carter both knew what awaited them inside the house, and they felt equal parts of anticipation at receiving the necessary substance, but also trepidation at protecting their Colonel at all costs.

Carter looked at Newkirk, who sent him a silent mind message, _"I'm hungry Peter—so hungry. It's been too long without blood...I can almost taste it—how warm and delicious it is, running down my mouth and throat."_

Newkirk silently replied, _"I know mate; I'm 'ungry too. But don't forget for even one moment that we need to protect the Gov'nor at all costs. I would never be able to forgive meself if me appetite got the better of me and I did something foolish."_ Carter nodded, knowing that protecting Hogan was even more important than fulfilling his own desire.

Quietly the three men slipped into the Colonel's house through the unlocked door, which made Carter and Newkirk know for a fact that Magerlein was expecting them. Hogan's hand was on the gun hidden in his bomber jacket, ready to make the first move before Magerlein got the chance. It was pitch-black inside the house, except for a very faint light in the far corner. They could see that the light was on top of a small desk, and that somebody was apparently asleep in a chair. _Is it Colonel Magerlein?_ they all thought at the same time. Slowly the man stirred from his pretend sleep, straightened, and got out of the chair. He turned on another lamp that was also on the desk, this one being much brighter and lighting up the entire room.

Turning around, Magerlein hissed, "Benjamin, Stanley, it is good of you to join me tonight. Can I get you a drink? Perhaps a cup of coffee…or blood?" Magerlein spat on the floor. However, his confidence wavered for one split second as his eyes fell upon Hogan. "This is most interesting, ja? I didn't know that the Colonel was one of _them._"

"He's not," Carter said. "He's just as human as you are."

Magerlein spat on the floor again before adding, "Then you are more foolish than I had imagined you to be, bringing a human into a supernatural battle."

"At least 'e _is_ 'uman, which is more than I can say for you," Newkirk said, making sure that Magerlein could see his fangs and letting him know that he meant business. He was glad that Hogan didn't reprimand him for that sentence, as he began to position himself in front of Hogan.

He stopped though when Hogan moved to Newkirk's side. "You don't have to protect me corporal. Apparently, Magerlein and I are equals in this fight," he whispered into Newkirk's ear.

Before Newkirk had a chance to nod his head, Magerlein reached his hand behind him without turning his head and picked up his gun from where it had laid on top of his desk. "Enough! For a whole week I have gathered intelligence on you, either about your secret or Papa Bear's organization. It is time to put an end to this. My only regret is that it will be impossible to kill you, Hogan, without having to explain myself to my superiors. Fortunately, a _vampir_ has no such rights," he said, raising his gun and pointing it at Newkirk's heart. Hogan drew out his gun from inside his jacket as well, and two shots went off simultaneously.

From when they had entered Magerlein's house to the shots being fired, the entire thing was over in ten short minutes. Hogan's bullet had found its target, and Magerlein fell backwards against his desk, his hand held over his chest. However, his own bullet had missed Newkirk's heart by mere centimeters. Newkirk and Carter slowly approached the Colonel, their fangs bared. Magerlein had lost his grip on his gun as he had fallen, and Carter kicked it away from where it lay on the floor before he had the time to reach for it. As the two men bent over Magerlein, they could see that his earlier expression of smug confidence had changed into a look of sheer terror. Hogan could only close his eyes and look away. He was glad that his two men drank noiselessly, and that Magerlein's weak screams didn't last long at all.

After several minutes had passed, Newkirk and Carter stood up and wiped their mouths. Newkirk patted his pocket again, which contained the two vials. He could see that Hogan had turned his back to his two men, and he certainly couldn't blame his commanding officer.

At the same time that Newkirk was looking at Hogan, Carter noticed that Magerlein had been studying some papers that were on his desk. "Colonel, Newkirk, I think you better have a look at this." Newkirk turned around, and Hogan walked over to the Colonel's desk, making sure to avoid looking at his lifeless body. Hogan looked over the papers, and saw that his and Newkirk's suspicions had been correct—the majority of them contained evidence that connected Papa Bear and his organization, including Newkirk and Carter, to the supply depot that had been blown up a week ago. However, he noticed that the last two pages were in code. Hogan had intended to stuff them inside his jacket and decipher them back at camp, except he noticed a word on the last page that Magerlein had left in plain German: _vampir._

"It seems like you were correct Newkirk—Magerlein really did know too much. He could have blown our entire operation." He added, "Except, what do vampires usually do with their victims?"

"Carter and me will make it look like an accident. We'll run 'is car off the road, and place 'is body nearby with some tracks leading away from it. That way it will look like an animal got to him, 'stead of a vampire."

"But won't they get suspicious when they see that only his neck has been attacked, and an autopsy shows that he's missing blood?"

"Trust us," Carter began, "you don't want to know in what condition his body will be found in to make it look like an animal attacked him." Hogan could only gulp and nod his head, trying to push back the headache that was beginning to form again.

"Why do I have the feeling that this is only the beginning? If Colonel Magerlein was the one investigating Papa Bear this time around, the Gestapo is going to be suspicious when they find that he's dead. I imagine we can expect a warm visit from our favorite Gestapo Major tomorrow," Hogan said, referring to Hochstetter.

"Yes, but most Gestapo agents aren't vampire 'unters as well Gov'nor. We can deal with Hochstetter or another bloody Kraut, but Magerlein's knowledge 'as died with 'im." With those words, Newkirk and Carter picked up Magerlein, with Newkirk carrying the shoulders and Carter carrying the feet. Hogan followed behind them, as they made their way out of the Colonel's house and to his parked car. The two men quickly carried out the staged accident, and Hogan was surprised that they were able to move the Colonel's car with Magerlein inside it as easily as he might throw a baseball. They walked half a mile down the road back towards their Stalag, until they came to a ditch that was on the left side of a sharp turn in the road. With superhuman speed they pushed the car down the ditch, laid the body a couple of feet from the car, and then they motioned for Hogan to keep a look out on the road as they completed their final step in the "accident" of making it look like an animal attack, along with false tracks that both led up to and away from the body and a nearby bush. Fortunately, they had not seen any German patrols along that stretch of road that they had just walked on. Their mission completed, the three men began the trek back into Stalag 13 through the woods, hoping to catch a few hours of sleep before having to deal with whatever the next day would bring.

Quietly Hogan made his way through the tunnel and then to his quarters, where he quickly changed into his pajamas. As he fell asleep he realized that only twenty-four hours ago he had no idea that vampires were far from fictional creatures, and that two of them were sleeping in their bunks outside his quarters. He tried not to think about the act that Newkirk and Carter had just committed, so he wouldn't have any nightmares while he slept. His last thought before falling unconscious was that he regretted he didn't have time to tell Kinch to radio London and ask for information regarding Colonel Magerlein. He could only guess at what the repercussions for the Colonel's death would be.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six: Nightmare

The last thing that Hogan needed as he was sleeping was any bad dreams. The events of the past twenty-four hours had been strange enough—downright frightening, as the thought had occurred to him during the day, after he had learned of their secret that perhaps the only thing keeping Newkirk and Carter from making a meal out of him, Kinch, and LeBeau was their loyalty to each other. Still, as much as Newkirk and Carter had tried to reassure him that they were on the "same side" in the war, and as much as he tried to tell himself that they were still his men and that _nothing_ could change that, he couldn't help but feeling a mixture of some disgust at the unnatural creatures that they were, and fear for his and his two human men's safety.

…

_Hogan watched in horror as Colonel Magerlein raised his gun and pointed it at him. I thought he was dead? Hogan thought to himself. I know I saw Carter and Newkirk attack him, so how is this possible? Quickly looking around at his surroundings, Hogan noticed that they were both in the woods halfway between Magerlein's house and Stalag 13, but nowhere near the road where earlier that night Newkirk and Carter had staged the accident. The German Colonel didn't care that he would have to answer to Major Hochstetter for his crime against his American counterpart and breaking the Geneva Conventions. He didn't even care that he knew that it was more than likely that Newkirk and Carter would be upon him as soon as they heard the gun go off. Hogan looked at his gun that was standing by the Colonel's feet. He had no idea how it had gotten there, except for the fact that now Magerlein had a gun and he didn't. He knew that even if he made a move for it he could still end up being shot in the back. He tried sending out a mental S.O.S. to his men, but it was of no use. Great, he thought to himself. Of all the time for that power not to work, now is _not_ the time._

_Hogan was startled to see that the Colonel's expression was that of a person who was beyond reason, who was going to kill him in cold blood and not think twice about it. More than the fact that he knew his time may finally be up, he wondered how his four men would continue the operation without him, how they would take care of each other with him no longer around to lead his team. At the moment he didn't even care that Newkirk and Carter were vampires—he just wanted to make sure that they would all look after each other. He could only imagine what Magerlein must be thinking. They attacked me and almost killed me, and since they have stolen my papers I won't be able to prove that Hogan is Papa Bear, and that Benjamin and Stanley are vampirs. There will be other Hunters after me, as I have come after them. Those three will not live much longer, that I promise! Magerlein thought to himself. With that final thought, he pulled the trigger._

_Newkirk and Carter had thought that their commanding officer was right behind him. They had only been a couple of feet in front of him, and could not imagine that Magerlein, or anybody else for that matter, had been able to separate them. They thought he had been killed back when Hogan had shot him and they had attacked him. Since he wasn't a vampire, how would he have been able to come back from the dead? However, upon hearing the gun shot, they immediately sensed what had happened. Their fangs quickly came out, their eyes became their vampiric shade of green, and even though they were twenty yards away from Hogan and the Colonel, they were upon him in two seconds. Carter knocked him down in one blow, and though he was not particularly hungry, finished the Colonel off quickly. He then turned his attention to help Newkirk, who was trying to lift Hogan onto his back. They knew that they could actually be making the wound worst, treating Hogan in such a rough manner, but there was no time to worry about that. They had to get their Colonel back to his private quarters and fast._

_Even though they had still been quite a ways away from the hidden tree stump that opened up into the tunnel, they used every bit of speed that they possessed and were there in less than a minute. Once they had entered into the tunnels, they slowed their pace so that none of the other men would know that they possessed extraordinarily speed. They were glad to see that Kinch was on the radio—they needed all the help they could get. Upon seeing the two men carrying the Colonel, he knew immediately that something was wrong. "Can you hold that thought sir? Papa Bear just came in, and it looks like he's been hurt pretty badly." With that, he took off his headphones and hurried over to see how he could help Hogan. He gasped when he saw that Hogan's shirt over his right shoulder was a bright red._

"_Holy cats. Who did this to him?" Kinch didn't mean to yell, but like the other two, he was very shook up. He knew that Hogan had had a lot of close calls before, but he had never seen his commanding officer in such a bad shape before._

"_It was Magerlein, that Gestapo agent who was here earlier today," Carter replied, letting the tears fall freely down his cheeks. "We thought Hogan was right behind us, but he must have gotten between us somehow. Quickly- go upstairs and tell LeBeau what happened. Get Wilson and tell him to come to the Colonel's quarters right away. There isn't time to get him to the infirmary." Carter didn't need to tell him twice- Kinch was up the secret stairs leading out of the tunnels as fast as humanly possible._

_The two men quickly but carefully lifted Hogan up the stairs and through the barracks. They could see that all eyes, including LeBeau's, were on them as Newkirk supported Hogan's shoulders, and Carter supported Hogan's feet, carrying him into his quarters and laying him down on the lower bunk. They shut the door to his quarters for privacy after LeBeau had followed them inside, but opened it up once Kinch arrived with Joseph Wilson, who was carrying his medical bag. He asked all four men to wait outside while he treated Hogan. They were very reluctant to leave their injured commanding officer, but they did as Wilson requested. Closing the door, he came back to the bunk and approached Hogan._

"_It's not that bad Wilson. Really it's not. It's just a flesh wound," Hogan replied, smiling weakly. He could feel that his right shoulder felt wet, but he dared not look down at it himself. _

"_I'm not going to lie to you Colonel. It's bad. You've lost a lot of blood, and the bullet is lodged deep in there," Wilson replied from besides the bunk, getting out his medical equipment. "To be honest, I don't even know if I'll be able to get it out."_

_It was only then that Hogan looked down at his shoulder, and saw the extent of his wound. He had always been brave, but he found himself struggling to hold back the tears. "Get my men in here, Joe…What kind of officer goes home without saying good-bye to his men?" Hogan managed another smile, but this time it made him cough before he was able to make himself stop. He could also feel that his eyelids were getting heavy. Have to keep on fighting, he told himself. Robert, you are NOT going to die._

_Wilson opened the door and found four very worried men with four very worried expressions sitting around the table. "Guys, the Colonel wants to speak with you." Hearing that, they jumped up from the table and quickly went into Hogan's quarters. Carter was the last one, so he closed the door behind him._

_They all gasped when they saw how bad the Colonel really was. Even though he was able to make eye contact, they just couldn't believe how bad off he was. They saw Wilson, sitting on the Colonel's bunk, was hunched over their commanding officer and was working at a feverish pace. After what seemed like an eternity, Wilson got up. They smiled when they saw that he had been able to take out the bullet, but taken aback when their eyes met his. He was crying._

"_I'm sorry guys, but the Colonel…" Wilson had to swallow to continue. "He's dying. There's nothing I can do about it. The wound is just too severe. There's barely a pulse. I'm so, so sorry." Wilson could see that there was not a single dry eye in the room._

"_No sir, you just can't leave us," Kinch said. "What will we do without you?"_

"_You're gonna be Ok Gov'nor. Really you are."_

"_Newkirk's right, mon Colonel. You will be tres bien very soon."_

_Hogan saw that his youngest man sat down, tears still falling from his cheeks. Carter gently reached for Hogan's hand, and saw that Hogan barely had enough strength to lift it. Hogan smiled gently again, coughed again, and slowly let his eyes close, his hand falling by his side. Carter let his face fall over Hogan's body and weep. He only lifted it to watch as all of the men, in addition to Wilson, piled out, except he noticed that Newkirk stayed behind. The others felt that he simply needed some time alone to grieve, so they didn't question it when he stayed behind and closed the door. Carter tilted his head when he noticed that Newkirk had a strange look in his eye, a look that he had never seen before. Out in the barracks, Kinch, LeBeau and Wilson noticed that every man was looking at them, since they had heard Wilson coming in and some had seen Carter and Newkirk carrying the wounded Colonel. They began to relay the bad news to the soldiers._

_Back inside Hogan's quarters, Newkirk rushed over to his commanding officer's body, and asked Carter to sit at Hogan's desk. Carter wondered what his friend was up to, but he did as he was asked. Newkirk put two fingers over Hogan's neck, and a smile broke out when he was still able to make out a pulse, however faint as it was._

"_Why are you smiling?" Carter asked. "Hogan is dead." Carter was about to hang his head, but Newkirk spoke up before he had a chance to._

"_The Gov'nor still 'as a pulse mate. It's very faint though." His mind drifted back to what he said after he had first received Wing's message, all those days ago. The gov'nor knows he can trust us with his life._

_Carter's eyes suddenly became full of hope. "You mean he's going to live? Should I get the others?" He stood up, but Newkirk beckoned with his hand for him to sit back down, which he did._

"_If we 'urry, but…"_

"_But what is it? He is going to make it through, isn't he?"_

"_I'm not about to let the Gov'nor die. It 'urts me Andrew, 'urts me like 'ell to see 'im like this. I know 'e may not like it, but I'll teach 'im how to live with it." He put a hand on Carter's shoulder before adding, "'Just like I've taught you. 'E won't be alone."_

_Carter gave his friend a quizzical look and said, "What do you mean? What won't he like?" It was only then that he began to understand, as he noticed his friend's eyes become green. "You're not gonna do it, are you? I mean, I never wanted it, so how do we know the Colonel won't feel the same way? You can't!"_

"_There's no other way mate. It's either that, or we throw a funeral tomorrow. There may be a pulse, but the Gov'nor's still dying." With unspoken words, Newkirk thought to his friend "Do you want that? Which would you choose?"_

_Carter could only think to his friend "The Colonel's not going to be happy about this, I think. But I don't want him to die either. The underground needs him, London needs him….Go ahead."_

"_Then we're both in agreement. I've never done this before… never wanted to. But I'm not about to let the Colonel die…Not only for our team's sake, but for the war effort as well."_

_With that, Newkirk's fangs came out, and he gently bent over Hogan's neck. You won't be alone in this sir. I'm going to teach you everything I know. I promise Newkirk thought to himself. Though he had earlier wiped his face, a single tear rolled down his eye as he performed the necessary life-saving action._

…

Hogan quickly sat up in bed, sweat pouring down his face. He could see that it was morning by the light that was coming through his window. He knew that roll call would be starting soon, so before he had time to think about his horrific nightmare he began to dress for the day. However, he was shaking so bad that it seemed he would never be able to steady himself or calm his nerves. He grabbed a mirror that he owned, and checked both his teeth and his eyes. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that he hadn't grown fangs overnight, and that his eyes were still their normal shade. Still, the questions haunted him. _If it meant saving my life, would I allow them to change me? How would I feel, outliving Kinch and LeBeau? Most importantly, would I be a danger to them? I know that Newkirk and Carter can control their appetite, as apparently they have for months, but I could never live with myself if I attacked my men….Wait, Robert, get a grip on yourself. It was only a nightmare—maybe one that makes Hochstetter seems like Schultz in comparison, but it was only a nightmare._ He never thought he would live to see the day when he would actually be glad to see the Gestapo Major, but if it meant getting his dream out of his head he would gladly take it. Sighing heavily, he left his quarters just as Schultz was about to announce that it was time for the morning roll call.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven: Necessity of Friendship

Even though he tried his best to pay attention during the morning roll call, Hogan found that it was very difficult as all he could think about was his nightmare. He barely even paid attention to Klink gloating over the latest bit of news that he was telling his prisoners about "the glorious Fatherland." Meanwhile, Newkirk and Carter had their own problems to deal with. Since they had always stolen their blood from the local hospital, they weren't used to the feeling that came from attacking people directly, as they did with Colonel Magerlein the previous night. It was both a feeling of power and satisfaction, but also of shame. For once, Newkirk didn't mind that Klink was telling the prisoners propaganda news of the war. He even felt a little happy to see that his Kommandant was in such a positive mood that day. It was far better than the alternative, as Newkirk thought to himself _If Klink knows that the Gov'nor knows our secret, e'll think it's only a matter of time before…_ However, both Hogan's and Newkirk's thoughts were interrupted when the prisoners were dismissed back into their barracks.

Even during breakfast, all three men continued to think about the events that had occurred during the previous night, as well as Hogan thinking about his nightmare. They barely touched the food that LeBeau had prepared for their breakfast, and none of them were really listening to Kinch's description of what had gone on during the officer's party the night before. The men's silence and small appetite did not go unnoticed.

LeBeau was the first one to speak up. "What's wrong? Don't you like how the eggs turned out?"

"Nothing, they're fine," all three men replied at the same time.

_Great,_ LeBeau thought to himself. _I make a magnifique breakfast and they only say that "they're fine."_ He looked over at Kinch, who could only shrug his shoulders.

"Colonel, did something go wrong with the mission last night?" Since Kinch knew that his commanding officer was a private man, he hesitantly added, "Is there anything you would like to talk about?"

"No, the mission last night was a success. We were able to secure those papers from Colonel Magerlein." Sensing the slightly uneasy tension that was hanging in the air, Hogan added, "We're fine. There's really nothing to talk about." Silently, Hogan wished he could say, "_But did you know that Carter and Newkirk are vampires, and they attacked Colonel Magerlein last night, and then, while I was sleeping, I dreamt that they changed me into a vampire?"_ Instead, he poked at his eggs, and was glad to see his second-in-command had dropped the subject. "Anyway, what did you two learn during the party last night?"

"Not much. There was this real talkative Gestapo at the party last night, a Sergeant Faust. Pretty much every time somebody tried to speak he would begin talking about the strangest thing. Said that there were vampires in the area or something."

"Everybody thought that he just had too much to drink," LeBeau added. "Can you imagine, vampires? The Gestapo are getting crazier and crazier."

"Vampires? Blimey, sounds like this Sergeant's gone round the bend," Newkirk spoke before Hogan had a chance to, perhaps even a little too quickly. Carter nodded his agreement.

The rest of the breakfast was uneventful. After everybody had finished, LeBeau cleared the table, while Hogan silently caught Newkirk's and Carter's attention and motioned with his head to his quarters. He knew that he needed to get his dream off his chest and talk about it with them.

Once all three men had left, Kinch strode over to LeBeau to help him wash the dishes. "Did you notice that the Colonel, and Newkirk and Carter, all seemed pretty quiet about the mission last night? Plus they barely touched your cooking? It just doesn't seem like them."

"Oui, mon ami. Something is wrong here, especially with the way that Carter and Newkirk were acting all last week….Plus, I didn't want to say anything at the table, but did you notice that Carter's eyes seemed a little green?"

"Yeah, I noticed that too. I just hope the Colonel decides to tell us what's on his mind. Hopefully, sooner rather than later."

…

Inside his private quarters, Hogan sat at his desk facing his two men, who were sitting on his lower bunk. He had made sure that his door was closed, and he told LeBeau and Kinch not to open it without knocking first. Slowly he began telling his two men about the horrific dream that he had just woken up from an hour ago. By the time he was done telling them about it, exactly as he remembered it, he saw that their expressions had gone from curiosity to horror to sadness, and maybe a couple of emotions in between. He finished by telling them the questions that he had thought of upon waking.

"Sir, about your questions—would you want us to change you?" Newkirk asked.

"We wouldn't do it if you didn't want us to sir. I mean, we'd all be sad, but we wouldn't change you against your will." Carter added. Hogan could see that the thought of performing that action actually repulsed him a little bit.

"No, I don't want to become a vampire, but thanks anyway." Hogan replied in his usual sarcastic manner. He lowered his head before very quietly adding, "I don't want to become a, a…monster."

Hogan looked up to see that his two men were deeply hurt at what he had just confessed to them. They knew that he would have a hard time with their secret, but the fact that he would actually view two of his trusted men, men who had gone on countless missions with him time and again, as something less than human was beyond them.

Carter fought to hold back the tears as he could only ask his commanding officer, "Why sir?"

"I know it's wrong of me, but I can't help my feelings. You two drink _blood_ to stay alive! You _attacked_ Colonel Magerlein last night! I know you're still my men and that nothing can change that, but…Well, that's just it. You're not _men_, you're _vampires!_" Hogan had never considered himself a temperamental man, but he had never been faced with such a reality before. Very quietly he added, "Do you want to know the truth? I'm actually _scared_ of you."

Hogan's admittance was his two men's breaking point. Just like in his commanding officer's dream, Carter began to cry real tears, and Newkirk could barely hold them back. They knew that they would have to do everything possible to convince their Colonel that things were still the same—that they could still be counted on 100%, and that they could still blow things up and pickpocket with the best of them.

"Like I said yesterday, we're not evil, and we're not monsters." Newkirk reminded Hogan through misty eyes. "What do we 'ave to do to make you believe us?"

Hogan could only sigh before adding, "I don't know Newkirk. I honestly don't know."

After a couple of seconds had passed, Newkirk thought of a plan and decided to put it into action. "Andrew, maybe we should 'ave gone to Gestapo 'Eadquarters last night instead of telling Colonel Hogan our secret. It might 'ave been a suicide mission, but I'm sure the Colonel would be a lot 'appier right now."

Carter, completely shocked at the words that Newkirk was speaking, asked, "Newkirk, why are you saying that? You know it would have been too dangerous with just the three of us."

"Yeah, I know that, but apparently the Gov'nor 'ere wants nothing to do with us." To clarify his actions, Newkirk thought to his friend _Reverse psychology. Follow me lead. _Newkirk was glad that Carter began to understand.

"I'm sure that the Colonel has a lot of things on his mind right now. But I mean it's better than being caught, or tortured, isn't it? I mean, we certainly don't respect or admire the Colonel, and we wouldn't protect him at all costs, would we? Even though you almost got killed last night and…" Carter stopped, as he saw that Hogan and Newkirk were both looking at him with wide eyes, and then at each other. The truth of what had almost happened the previous night was beginning to sink into both men's minds.

Simultaneously, both men remembered that Colonel Magerlein had been very quick with his gun—almost too quick, as a matter of fact. Carter watched as both pairs of eyes slowly looked down at Newkirk's heart, where Magerlein's bullet had missed it by mere centimeters. All three men had been too caught up in what had been going on to notice that Newkirk had barely moved out of the way just in time to avoid being killed.

"Blimey, I 'adn't thought of that." Newkirk looked over at Hogan, who remained quiet.

_Newkirk almost got himself killed last night, just to protect me….Carrying out an attack on one Gestapo agent is certainly a lot easier than on the entire Gestapo Headquarters…Respect, admiration-Carter's right….But still._

However, the thoughts of all three men were interrupted when LeBeau knocked on the closed door, as he had been instructed. After hearing Hogan's permission to allow him to enter, he informed them that something had just happened to make the day go from bad to worse.

"Hochstetter's car's just arrived, mon Colonel. What do you think the Bosch wants this time?"

"I'm not sure. But get Kinch in here. It looks like it's already time for our coffee break," Hogan told his corporal, trying his best to put aside his feelings for Carter and Newkirk and to concentrate on this new development.

…

Inside the Kommandant's office, the usual meeting of the minds was taking place. Sitting at his desk, Klink said with a smile on his face "Major Hochstetter, what a pleasure it is to see you."

Hochstetter sneered while replying, "I wish that I could say the same thing for you."

Upon hearing those words, Klink's smile fell from his face, and he increasingly grew nervous. "Yes sir. What can I do for the Gestapo today?"

"First of all, you can stop quivering." Even though Klink hadn't been aware of it, he had started to slide back into his chair. "Second, you can tell Schultz to bring Colonel Hogan here. I have something the Gestapo needs to ask of him."

A short time later, Hogan was standing in Klink's office in front of his desk. He acted surprised about why he was wanted there as always, even though he had a pretty good idea he knew why.

Speaking to Klink, the Gestapo Major asked, "Klink, I understand that Colonel Magerlein was here to see you yesterday. I also understand that he was investigating the supply depot that was blown up a little over a week ago—and that he believes Colonel Hogan and his team were responsible for the attack."

"But that's impossible Major. Colonel Hogan has been here all along. May I remind you that there has never been a successful escape attempt from Stalag 13 and that…" Before he could finish his sentence, he was interrupted.

"Klink, shut up."

"Yes sir."

"Just now I found Colonel Magerlein's body in a ditch off of the road that leads into camp. Don't you think it's strange that he was the one investigating Hogan, and now he is dead?" Hochstetter quickly turned his head to look at Hogan, before giving his attention to Klink again.

"Don't look at me sir—like the Kommandant said, there has _never_ been a successful escape attempt," Hogan replied, even though the question hadn't been directly addressed towards him. He saw Klink's eyes looking at him, as though they were pleading with Hogan not to cause any trouble with the Gestapo.

Klink's eyes grew wide upon hearing the news. "Colonel Magerlein—dead? But that's terrible! Do they know what he died of?" Even though Klink tried to act upset, he was secretly very happy, relieved in fact. He thought to himself _There must be a reason why he only wanted to arrest Carter and Newkirk yesterday. And I think I know why. If that's correct, then this Colonel would have become a danger to myself as well._

"It appears that he lost control of his car, and that when he stepped out of it, either to get help or to walk back to his house, he was attacked by some animal. I found footprints leading up to and away from a bush, but the trail stops there."

"If it's an animal, then there's no way that Hogan or any of his men were responsible."

Hogan spoke up. "The Kommandant is right sir. After all, the last time I checked we're just as human as the Gestapo are. Well, give or take a little on their part."

Klink looked at his American counterpart, since he was annoyed as always. "Hogan!"

"Bah!" Hochstetter said, turning around to look at Hogan before turning back and replying to Klink, "I suppose you are correct Kommandant." Opening the door, Hochstetter looked one more time at Hogan before adding, "But I will be keeping my eye on you." With that, he slammed the door to Klink's office, walked over to his car, got in and left Stalag 13.

...

Back inside Hogan's quarters, Kinch and LeBeau looked at Newkirk and Carter with very surprised expressions. Even though they had a couple of questions on their minds, they only had to ask the one that was of the utmost importance.

"Neither the Colonel nor you two told us that Magerlein was dead." Kinch said.

"Well, we didn't think it was important," Carter tried to explain. However, Kinch and LeBeau just looked at him as if he had tried to convince them that two plus two made five.

"What do you mean, not important? You two have been acting very strange all week." LeBeau shot back.

Carter and Newkirk looked at each other, and Carter sent his friend a silent mind message, _"Do you think we should tell them? I'm tired of lying to them, to our friends. It might be easier on us."_

"_It's not a good time Andrew. Our Colonel is 'aving enough trouble dealing with all this before we let Kinch and LeBeau know. And you KNOW 'ow important our secret is to us."_

"_Will it ever be a good time to tell them? Besides, you said yourself 'But if we have to tell them, we will.' I mean, I want them to know that we're not traitors or anything. You saw how suspicious Hogan was before we told him—don't you think that Kinch and LeBeau feel the same way?"_

Newkirk sighed. He, too, was tired of having to skirt the issue, and he knew that his friend was probably correct that Hogan's two other men shared the same suspicion. He thought back to the radio message that he had received from Wings a little over a week ago. He knew it wasn't her fault that their offices had been broken into, but lately he had been wishing that he had never received the message from her at all. Even though he knew that Kinch and LeBeau wouldn't take their secret very easy—possibly even worse than how Hogan was treating it—he felt that if he and Carter continued lying to them things could only get worse. He silently replied to Carter, _"Anne isn't going to like this, you know….But it's our secret, and I 'ave to agree with you. It's time."_

Hogan arrived in his quarters in time to see a decidedly shocked Kinch and LeBeau, standing opposite a noticeably fanged-and-green-eyed Newkirk and Carter.


	8. Chapter 8

AN: This author gratefully acknowledges ColHogan's suggestions regarding Kinch's religion.

Chapter Eight: Reactions

For the longest time, Hogan glanced back and forth between his men. Though they had all been gathered around the coffee pot, listening to the conversation that had just occurred in Klink's office, Hogan noticed that LeBeau and Kinch had moved away from Newkirk and Carter to the end of the room that was by the window. _If we had a pin you'd be able to hear it drop_ Hogan thought to himself. He noticed that his two human men had very wide eyes, and thought LeBeau looked as if he might faint any second.

Suddenly, and very roughly, LeBeau grabbed Hogan's arm, pulled him across the room and stood in front of him, as though he was protecting his commanding officer. At the same time he saw that Kinch was making the sign of the cross and holding up his crucifix against them.

"Mon Dieu, Carter et Newkirk sont vampyres!" LeBeau rapidly exclaimed. Stepping out from behind his corporal, Hogan didn't think it was possible for him to be any paler, or any more wide-eyed. Yet, he seemed to become increasingly both every second. _It's a good thing Carter and Newkirk don't have any blood on or with them at the moment—we all know how LeBeau feels about that_ Hogan thought to himself. Still, he positioned himself in order to catch him in case he did faint….LeBeau came around five minutes later, and he found himself lying on Hogan's lower bunk. By the time he had awakened, he saw Newkirk and Carter were leaning against the wall opposite the window, and he saw that Kinch was talking in hushed tones with his commanding officer.

Upon seeing his corporal regain consciousness, Hogan approached him and asked, "How are you feeling now? You passed out for a couple minutes."

"Much better, mon Colonel. Except I think I _must_ be seeing things. For a second there I thought that Carter and Newkirk were vampyres." Hogan saw LeBeau's attention shift from him to the men that he had just mentioned. His eyes once again became wide as he realized that his sight wasn't deceiving him.

"Now don't you be doing that again," Newkirk told LeBeau as he saw that he was getting ready to faint for the second time.

"Are you sure this isn't just some trick?" Kinch asked them, trying to make light of the whole situation. He knew that if he was the fainting type like LeBeau, he would not be standing there asking that question.

"No Kinch, we're vampires alright," Carter informed him. He looked at Newkirk, hoping that he would take the lead in explaining everything. He was glad to see that his friend did exactly that.

"I'm sure you must 'ave some questions….What is it that you want to know?"

"_Some_ questions might be an understatement," Kinch and LeBeau said at the same time.

Newkirk sighed before launching into his explanation, which was the same one that he had told his commanding officer just the previous day. He explained how and when he and Carter had changed into vampires, the powers that they possessed—and finally, but very hesitantly, the real truth of what had gone on the previous night at Colonel Magerlein's house. He left out the part about the hidden vials of blood that were located by the tree stump, but knew that they deserved to hear about his and Carter's attack on the Gestapo agent. However, he still wasn't ready to reveal the truth behind the radio message that Carter had received a little over a week ago. _'Opefully I'll never 'ave to_ he thought to himself. At the same time, his mind drifted to his Kommandant, and the agreement that they had made all those months ago.

Just like Newkirk had predicted, Kinch and LeBeau didn't take the news very well. Just like Hogan had done since yesterday, their expressions changed from curiosity to fear. LeBeau especially seemed to be taking the news worse than Kinch. Quickly getting out of Hogan's bunk, he grabbed his commanding officer by the arm again and stood in front of him.

"Get your filthy vampyre hands away from mon Colonel! How do we know that you won't attack him the same way you did to Magerlein last night!" LeBeau exclaimed, but this time he was more angry than fearful.

"LeBeau!" Hogan couldn't believe the words that had just come from his corporal. "How can you say that about your friends?" Hogan tried his best to put aside his own feelings about his men at the moment. It was one thing to have his own negative feelings about them, but as the leader of his team the last thing he needed was his men figuratively taking up arms against one another. "After all, if we turn against each other then the Krauts have won. United we stand, divided we fall."

"I am sorry, mon Colonel. But what am I supposed to say? That everything is the same as before?" LeBeau asked, crossing his arms and turning slightly away from Carter and Newkirk, though he didn't bother to look at Hogan.

"I'm sorry, but I'm gonna have to agree with LeBeau here. It's just not normal." Kinch nodded in agreement. "Besides, what about the old legend of vampires not having souls?"

"But it _is_ the same," Carter pleaded with misty eyes, fighting to hold back the tears again.

"Kinch, our bodies may 'ave died a while back but we still 'ave souls. We're not evil monsters." He then added, "But Andrew's right. We've been vampires all along, and 'ave we ever given you reason to fear or mistrust us?"

There was silence for several seemingly long minutes, as all three human men thought about what Newkirk had just said. Even Hogan had to admit that his corporal's statement was correct. _I suppose if they wanted to make meals out of us they would have done so by now_ he thought to himself. He slowly allowed a small smile to appear as this truth was finally beginning to sink in.

Kinch was the first one to speak up. "Well, it certainly explains why you two have been acting odd all last week, and sneaking off to talk together." He thought that it might have had something to do with the radio message that he had relayed to Hogan give to Carter, but at the moment he didn't feel like pressing his luck in asking about it. As Hogan's second-in-command he also realized how important it was in keeping the team together, and the last thing he wanted was for either or both Newkirk and Carter to shut down about what was going on. He saw both men nod their heads at his assessment.

"I just need to know one thing—have you ever read our minds?" LeBeau asked.

"If we ever want to know 'ow to cook good food, we'll just directly ask you 'ow to make some fish-and-chips," Newkirk replied sarcastically.

LeBeau huffed, "I will take that as a 'no.'"

"It's too bad that we're not the only ones in the barracks. I mean, I wouldn't mind never having to eat cardboard again."

"Carter, what sort of foods can a vampire taste?" LeBeau asked. He knew that the other men in the barracks would grow suspicious if they never saw Carter and Newkirk eating again. However, since he had always considered himself a master chef, the last thing he wanted was to have his food described as tasting like cardboard.

"Anything that's really spicy," Carter informed his friend.

"Or anything that's sweet, like sugar. It 'elps mimic the body's natural blood sugar," Newkirk added. He was glad to see LeBeau turning to Kinch and asking him to ask for the requested items in the next package from London.

The rest of the day seemed to go by very quickly, as Newkirk and Carter slowly and patiently answered every question that Kinch and LeBeau asked of them. They knew how hard Hogan was still taking the news by his own, new questions, even though, to their great relief and happiness, he finally seemed to be coming around to this new reality. That night, LeBeau added two and three extra lumps of sugar to Newkirk's and Carter's coffee, respectively. He smiled to himself as they informed him that it was the best cups they had ever drunk.

…

Even though Hogan was beginning to come around, he still had a couple of deeply-held, nagging doubts about his two men. In addition to the earlier fear and suspicion, he began to wonder what would happen if their hunger ever overtook them when they were performing a mission, or how their need for the necessary substance could be used against them as a new form of torture. He noticed that Kinch and LeBeau also still had their negative feelings by the way that they would sometimes look at them. Turning in for the evening, Hogan could only hope that unlike the previous night, he wouldn't have any additional nightmares.

_Hogan found himself standing outside Colonel Magerlein's house, exactly as he had twenty-four hours ago. He found that the events of the previous night were again unfolding, but this time they seemed to be happening in slow motion. Every action was exactly the same as it had actually occurred, except for one difference. Magerlein raised his gun, and he raised his. The shots again went off simultaneously, but this time Magerlein's bullet found its target._

_It was then that the dream returned to normal speed. Carter made his way to Magerlein extremely quickly, and finished off the Colonel. At the same time, Newkirk fell backwards, holding his hand over his heart. Hogan barely had time to catch him before his head would have hit the floor._

"_I'm sorry sir, but the bloody Kraut was too fast for me….I know you 'aven't completely accepted me and Carter as vampires, but now you won't 'ave to worry about that." With that, Hogan watched as his corporal's body quickly faded to dust._

_Hogan let the tears fall freely down his face. He looked at his hands, which were still holding some of the dust that used to be his corporal's body. "I don't care about that!" Hogan looked over at Carter, who had by this time had stood up and immediately realized what had happened when he saw the dust that lay in his commanding officer's hands. Through his own wet eyes, he could see that Carter was also crying. "I don't care that he was a vampire—he was NOT a monster; he was one of my men! He just can't be dead, he can't be!" Turning back to the dust that was still in his hands, Hogan whispered "I honestly don't care."_

"Sir, wake up. We heard you screaming in your sleep. Is everything alright?"

Hogan hadn't been aware of the fact that he had been tossing and turning during his nightmare, or that he had actually been yelling the words that he had just said while asleep. He quickly opened his eyes, and saw that all four of his men were standing in his quarters, except for Kinch who was sitting on his bunk and was gently shaking his commanding officer's shoulder.

"You mean, I was sleeping? Newkirk isn't really dead?"

"Of course he's not. He's right over there," Kinch said pointing to Newkirk, who was standing nearby.

Hogan brushed his cheeks with one hand, and found that he had been crying in his sleep as well. Normally he would have felt embarrassed by all of this, but at the moment he didn't care. He was too busy feeling relieved that all of his men were still alive. He asked Carter and Newkirk to sit down at the end of his bunk, which they did after Kinch had gotten up. Sitting up, he began to tell all of them the dream that he just had.

"I feel so foolish and selfish, and I mean what I said in my dream. I honestly _don't_ care what you are, or the fact that you're both vampires. I would never be able to forgive myself if one of you—if any of you died," he said, moving his arm to encompass the entire room and all of the men that were in it. "Can you ever forgive me for what I said earlier today?"

"Of course we can," Carter and Newkirk both said at the same time.

"I mean, we probably wouldn't have felt any differently if we were in your shoes," Carter added with his usual smile. "We understand how great this whole thing is, how powerful our secret must seem." Newkirk nodded in agreement.

After a couple of moments, Kinch spoke up and asked his commanding officer "What do you want us to tell the others? I'm sure we weren't the only ones that woke up to your screaming."

"Tell them the truth—that it was just a bad dream, nothing more. I'm sure after all this time they're probably used to me having nightmares…. But there's something I forgot to ask you about earlier. We all know that Colonel Magerlein knew your secret, but do you think that this Sergeant Faust is a danger to you two as well?" All four men looked at their commanding officer with worried expressions. They had been so caught up in Carter and Newkirk revealing themselves that they had completely forgotten about the Gestapo agent who was present at the party the previous night.

"I don't know sir. If 'e really is a 'Unter we shouldn't radio London about 'im—the last thing we need is the whole world knowing our secret. 'E may 'ave been drunk, but we'll need to keep an eye on 'im."

"I suppose you're right—it would be best to take things one day at a time," Hogan replied while yawning. "Good night."

After his men had left, Hogan's last waking thought before falling asleep was _Maybe after the war ends I'll be able to go back to having dreams again. _He found that sleep came easily, and that he had neither good dreams but fortunately no unpleasant nightmares either.

…

Even though Carter and Newkirk had pretended to be asleep, they both knew that their Kommandant deserved to hear the truth, as much as he might not like it. It was part of their agreement that they had made with him all those months ago—neither one of them would tell anybody each other's terrible secret, and in exchange they had promised to protect one another, even if they were on opposite sides during the war. They all realized that the last thing they needed was one of the Furher's scientists performing some sort of crazy experiment on them, if the stories that they were beginning to hear had any truth to them. Either that or they knew that they could be killed on the spot by anybody who was crazy enough to believe their secret. To this end they had even promised to get Klink to America after the war, if worse should come to worse. They waited until they were positive that Kinch and LeBeau were asleep, and then they very quietly slipped over to the Kommandantur's office.

"Do you really think we should tell him?" Carter asked.

"'E may be a Kraut, but 'e has a right to know so 'e can protect 'imself. Wouldn't you want 'im to tell you if the roles were reversed?"

"I suppose so. But still, I'm not too comfortable about this." With that, they quietly slipped inside Klink's private quarters, since the door was unlocked.

Slowly making their way over to Klink's bed, Newkirk turned on the light and gently shook his Kommandant's shoulder. "Sir, wake up. We 'ave something to tell you."

Very sleepily, he mumbled "What is it now Newkirk? I know you may be hungry but I don't have any blood for you. I'll try to get some tomorrow."

"It's not about that. It's about Colonel Hogan, and Kinch and LeBeau. You see sir, they know," Carter informed him.

Upon hearing those words, the words that he had hoped to never hear, Klink quickly sat up in bed. He saw that Carter and Newkirk were sitting on the edge of his bed, and they saw that even though he was still sleepy he was completely terrified. "They know? Do they know about me as well?"

"No, but you know it may be only a matter of time. I remember our agreement sir—we still promise not to tell them," Newkirk reminded his Kommandant.

"But why do they know?" Thinking for a moment, Klink asked, "Is it about Colonel Magerlein?"

Newkirk let out an inaudible sigh as he realized that he had to play his cards right. It was one thing to tell Klink that they were responsible for the attack, if need be, since he knew that Klink would have been in as much danger from the Colonel as he and Carter had been if his secret had gotten out. However, it was quite another thing to let him know that they could enter and leave the camp at will. He realized that if Klink knew they could do that, he would be able to figure out that Hogan could do it as well, which would only support everybody's suspicions that he was Papa Bear.

"We didn't kill 'im, if that's what you mean. We 'onestly don't know 'ow 'e died any more than what Colonel Hogan told us. But we were afraid that 'e would come back with the papers and arrest us both. We 'ad to let the Gov'nor know."

"And how did Colonel Hogan take the news?" Even though Klink tried to act calm, he was feeling anything but.

"He was fearful and suspicious at first, but he finally came around just now. I mean, you should have heard him describe the nightmares that he had before he realized that nothing had changed between us and him," Carter said, taking over the conversation from Newkirk.

"What do you think I should do about it?" Klink asked, looking back and forth between his two prisoners. He quickly added, "I suppose Kinch or LeBeau must have told you about Sergeant Faust at the officer's party last night. Do you think he's a danger to us as well?"

"They didn't tell us much, but 'e could be. We'll all need to keep our eyes on 'im," Newkirk said protectively. He knew that both Carter and Klink looked up to him regarding their secrets, and he had and would always do his best to protect them.

Carter spoke up about Klink's first question "Well, I think it's pretty easy, but we need to know one thing. When was the last time that Eagle was free?"

"You know I don't do that anymore," Klink said, wincing at the very sound of his other name. Quickly, his thoughts turned to the events that had occurred and followed after the Great War. He remembered how ambitious he was, how brash and strong-willed he felt at the prospect of fighting for his great nation. He had signed up like the patriotic young man that he was, but he could never have imagined the events that would quickly follow. Soon after the war had ended, he had been taking a late evening walk one day when he had been attacked by an unknown creature, and had quickly been rushed to the hospital when a passing-by couple had found him severely injured on the sidewalk. After he had recovered from his injuries and been discharged, he considered himself fortunate to be alive.

The months passed, and he often thought about that fateful night. He was deeply ashamed at what he had become, and what Eagle wanted to do. He remembered the years when he used to terrorize the countryside every month, and how hard he had worked at getting his condition under control. Even though Newkirk was British and Carter was American, he was glad when Newkirk had read his mind soon after he had become a prisoner and understood how lonely and afraid he was. It was Newkirk, with Carter's permission once he had arrived, who had told Klink about their secret, and he saw how relieved Klink was to see that he had a sort of kindred spirit in the both of them. Still, Klink vowed that Eagle would never again get the better of him, and he worked hard every day to keep himself under control, even if meant letting Hochstetter and Burkhalter bully him around sometimes. He was not like the man of his youth, the man who had been changed during that fateful night and whose emotions and attitudes were always present in Eagle. At the same time, he had accepted what he was, and every once in a while would cautiously allow Eagle to be free. It had always been a balancing act, a sort of Jekyll-and-Hyde relationship between both sides of himself.

However, Newkirk persistently repeated, taking over from Carter, "Sir, you need to tell us, because you need to keep a low profile for the time being. When was the last time that Eagle was free?"

Klink hung his head while replying, "A week ago. It made me feel warm all over—the ground underneath my feet and the last quarter moon up above. I just wish that there weren't so many patrols around, like it was before the war. But you're right—I understand that I need to lay low for a while."

Newkirk and Carter were glad to see that Klink understood, and they quietly made their way back to their barracks. The Kommandant fell back asleep, dreaming about the woods that were situated outside of his Stalag.

"It's kinda funny though," Carter whispered to his friend.

"What's funny?" Newkirk asked, giving him a strange look.

"I mean, all this time Colonel Hogan thought that he was the one with all the secrets. But we're not in Stalag 12, or 14. We're all in Stalag 13."

Newkirk could only shake his head in amused disbelief and chuckle "Yeah, lucky number thirteen." Immediately before they headed back inside their barracks, both men found themselves thinking about their sleeping werewolf Kommandant.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine: Even the Best Laid Plans

Kinch and LeBeau were still having a hard time taking Carter and Newkirk's secret, and they both knew it. They would sometimes see LeBeau nervously swallowing when he would add the extra sugar to their coffee, and they noticed that Kinch never went anywhere without his crucifix around his neck. They knew that their commanding officer finally coming around was one thing, but they realized it might take a lot more work for the same to be said of Hogan's two human men. However, an event would occur that would actually make them glad that they were indeed vampires.

Two days after they had revealed themselves, Hogan and his men received a mission that they were supposed to bomb an oil refinery. The mission went off without a hitch—the car was successfully stolen from the motor pool, and as always, Carter's dynamite worked like a charm. They also made record time, since Carter and Newkirk no longer had to hide the fact that they possessed extraordinary speed. They had been fortunate enough to avoid any German patrols as they had traveled from their Stalag to the refinery's location, which was only a couple of miles away from camp. However, while they were traveling on the same road back to their barracks, they encountered a German patrol guarding the road. Hogan produced the necessary fake paper work, and breathed a sigh of relief as the guard that he had given them to seemed to accept them. However, just as they were getting ready to drive off again, another guard noticed Newkirk and Carter in the car and stopped them. Pointing his gun at Hogan, he ordered all five of the men to get out.

Before his commanding officer could leave the car, Newkirk was the first one to step out onto the road. Hogan let out an inaudible gasp, since as commanding officer he knew that it was his job, not Newkirk's, to protect his team. However, Newkirk thought to Carter _I 'ave a plan. As soon as I make my move, I need you to grab the wheel from the Colonel and drive back to camp—quickly. _Carter nodded to himself, since he understood what Newkirk meant when he thought "quickly."

Newkirk played along with the guard, holding his hands up and letting him search his uniform. However, as soon as the guard had his gun in position pointed at the corporal's back, Newkirk, with all of the speed that he possessed quickly turned around and punched the guard right in the chest. _Now!_ Newkirk thought. He began running, and he smiled to himself as Carter quickly grabbed the wheel and sped off, faster than any human would dare to drive. The guards weren't fast enough to catch the car, even though they had their own car with them, so they all began running after Newkirk. He ran quickly enough so that they wouldn't catch him, but slowly enough so that they wouldn't lose sight of him either. He led them through the woods, this way, that way, even a couple of times in complete circles.

Just before they reached their Stalag, Carter slowed the car to a normal speed just before they reached the stretch of road that was closest to the tunnel. After Hogan, Kinch, and LeBeau had gotten out and he made sure that they were down the tree stump and into the tunnel, he drove the car back into its position in the motor pool. Scrambling into the tunnel a short time later, Carter smiled as he realized that Newkirk's quick-thinking had allowed them to escape. However, his smile quickly fell from his face as he saw his commanding officer looking rather displeased and crossing his arms.

"Now what did you do that for? What was Newkirk thinking back there?" Hogan asked of his young sergeant with a stern look on his face.

"We're not about to let you or the others get caught, sir—not if we have the power to prevent it. It was Newkirk's plan—he knew that he would be able to lead the patrol away from you and the others, but at the same time he didn't want them to be able to catch you in their own car."

Hogan allowed a smile to appear. He did have to admit that Newkirk had come up with a pretty good plan to save the men, and he was thankful that he had shown a leadership quality.

"I'll have to thank him when he gets back to camp. Still, I want you two to remember that I'm the commanding officer here, and I would appreciate knowing what your plans are before you put them into action."

"Yes sir," Carter replied, carefully returning Hogan's smile. His attention shifted from his commanding officer to Kinch and LeBeau, who had been standing nearby. He was relieved that even though they seemed a bit jostled by the car ride, they too were smiling. Just two days earlier LeBeau had stood in front of his Colonel in order to protect him. Now, Carter was surprised as he walked over to him and gave him a small hug, which he returned, and Kinch patted him on the shoulder. _I think they finally just came around, too_ Carter thought to himself.

After an hour had passed, Newkirk arrived in the tunnels. He saw that Hogan and his men were still down there, so he silently caught Carter and his commanding officer's attention. The previous day they had finished the vials that they had hidden by the tree stump, and Newkirk explained to them that after he had made sure that the patrol were no longer on his trail, he had made his way to the hospital and was able to steal a quart of fresh blood. Going off into a private room, Newkirk poured the substance into two cups. Both men lifted their glasses as though it was champagne, and they toasted both their escape and the fact that Kinch and LeBeau had come around, since they were both too grateful to have any more fear or distrust. However, if Carter and Newkirk knew who had recognized them and had kept Hogan from driving off in the first place, they would not have felt as cheerful.

After they had finished their beverage, Carter and Newkirk rejoined the others. Earlier they had agreed that they would never drink their blood around the men, especially not around LeBeau. Seeing his men return, Hogan turned to his corporal.

"That was a very brave thing you did out there tonight—thank you. But I'm telling you what I told Carter—the next time you have a plan, I'd like to know about it beforehand."

"You're welcome sir, and I will. Besides, can't always be a coward" Newkirk replied. Quickly flashing Hogan a fang-filled smile, he added "Doesn't sit well with me nature."

…

The next day started pleasant enough, with all of the men outside enjoying a game of volleyball. Suddenly and without warning, Hochstetter's car pulled through the front gates, and after he had gotten out he wasted no time in going straight to Klink's office. Upon seeing him arrive, Hogan and the others went into his quarters to listen in on the conversation that was about to take place.

"Major Hochstetter, what a pleasure it is to see you again," Klink said, with his usual smile.

"That's funny, as it is _still_ not a pleasure to see _you_," Hochstetter sneered. "I'm a busy man Klink, so I will skip past the part where you quiver, and I tell you not to, and then I tell you to shut up. Is that understood?" the Gestapo Major asked, leaning over the desk.

Klink's smile dropped from his face. He wasn't used to Hochstetter being so direct, but he figured that if he didn't even ask why his prisoners were playing volleyball instead of being shut inside their barracks, then he actually _was_ a busy man.

"What can I do for the Gestapo today?" Klink asked, trying his best not to quiver for once—and failing spectacularly.

"I have here important papers that will prove Colonel Hogan was responsible for the destruction of the oil refinery yesterday." Hesitantly he added, "And I also know that the prisoners Newkirk and Carter were responsible for helping him. I want all three men brought to this office."

Back in his quarters, Hogan wondered why Hochstetter would specifically ask for Newkirk and Carter. Turning from the coffee pot to the two men that the Gestapo Major had just mentioned, he asked for their analysis of the situation.

"I've read 'is mind sir—the Kraut doesn't know about our secret any more than you did a week ago. I don't know what's going on, but I'm sure about that," Newkirk informed his commanding officer.

"I read the same thing," Carter added.

"Thank goodness for that at least." Hogan held up his hand so that his men would keep quiet, and he turned back to the coffee pot to hear the rest of the conversation.

"What do you mean, you won't bring the prisoners to this office?" Hochstetter asked, one decibel below a yell.

"Major, may I remind you that I am still in charge of this Stalag. I have looked at your papers and they seem thoroughly unconvincing." Of course, Klink had only pretended to read the papers that Hochstetter had showed to him. He was too busy remembering Carter's and Newkirk's nighttime visit to his quarters a couple of days ago informing him that Hogan knew about their secret, and he had his suspicions about why Hochstetter would specifically ask for these two men. _If Hogan really IS Papa Bear, then that's one matter. But I made an agreement with Carter and Newkirk to protect their secret, as they have with mine, and I certainly intend to keep it._ However, from the very moment that the Gestapo Major had asked for them, Klink found that wanting to protect them was building up a small rage within him, and he found himself subconsciously grasping his chair with both hands.

Hochstetter was not used to Klink standing up to him in such a defiant manner, which only made him angrier. "Klink, you dare to defy the Gestapo? You will bring those prisoners here, and you will bring them here now!"

Standing up, Klink tried being more polite in his defense of his prisoners. _Got to keep control_ he told himself. _It's like how Newkirk always said- Control is key._ Still, Hochstetter wouldn't budge, and he kept on asking to see Hogan and the others. Finally, Klink couldn't take it anymore, as his protective rage was overpowering. "Get out. I mean it—GET OUT!"

Hochstetter, startled and surprised to see Klink acting in such a manner, decided that this wasn't worth his trouble. He stared wide-eyed at the Kommandant for a couple of seconds, before his usual sneer returned to his face. "Bah! I will deal with you later!" With that, Hochstetter opened and slammed Klink's door, and quickly left the Stalag. Looking out his window, Klink noticed the Gestapo agent driving away, and as soon as he was gone the Kommandant grabbed his head, sweat was pouring down his back, and he was trying to fight back the convulsions that were beginning to overtake his body.

Back inside Hogan's quarters, all five men looked at each other curiously. They, too, were not used to their Kommandant being so forceful, but they were glad that the Gestapo Major had left without bothering or hurting Hogan and his men. However, Carter and Newkirk immediately knew what had happened, and what was happening.

Whispering into their commanding officer's ear, Newkirk told him, "If you'll excuse us for a minute, sir—it's feeding time." Before Hogan could respond, Newkirk and Carter quickly left his quarters and made their way over to Klink's office. As they walked across the Stalag, they could see that the men had returned to their barracks after seeing Hochstetter going into the Kommandantur's office. They could only hope that they weren't too late.

Turning his head to see them leave, Kinch turned back to Hogan. "I thought they drank just last night?" LeBeau also looked at his commanding officer, hoping for some kind of answer as to their sudden departure.

However, Hogan could only shrug his shoulders. "I'm not exactly a vampire expert Kinch. If they say they need to feed, then I believe them….Still, I wonder where Klink got that courage to stand up to Hochstetter all of a sudden?" This time, it was his men's turn to shrug their shoulders.

By this time, Carter and Newkirk were standing outside Klink's office door. They pressed their ears against it, hoping to hear anything that sounded even remotely human from behind the door. They gasped as they heard a low growl. Slowly opening the door but quickly rushing inside, they saw the sight that they hadn't seen in several months—Klink had lost control of his emotions, and instead, the ravenous Eagle was there to greet them. They quickly closed the door, lest Hilda see that there was a gray wolf in the Kommandant's office.

Eagle paced back and forth, growling and snapping at the two men. Both men gasped again when they saw that Eagle's eyes were crimson red. This caused Newkirk's and Carter's eyes to turn green, and their regular teeth turned into fangs.

"This isn't a good sign Andrew. You know that Eagle's eyes are only red when Klink's lost 'imself completely and Eagle 'as taken full control. They're supposed to be yellow—means that our Kommandant can still think as 'uman in 'is wolf form."

"I know," Carter replied. "But our Kommandant is still in there somewhere, and I'm not leaving this office until I bring him back."

"Neither am I mate. Neither am I." They both stared at Eagle, who suddenly lunged himself at Carter, knocking him down. Their faces were mere inches from each other, and they were practically fang-to-fang. Newkirk tried to use all of his strength to grab him from behind, but Eagle quickly turned around and made a move at him. He barely managed to get out of the way of Eagle's sharp claws. Getting up, Carter tackled him, and pinned him against the floor.

"I know you're still in there somewhere, sir. We're here to help you. You can fight this, just like you have in the past. You don't _need_ to do this and you don't _want_ to do this." However, Carter's words seemed to have little effect on Eagle, and he barely managed getting up in time to avoid getting scratched in the face.

Newkirk quickly tackled him from behind while once again Eagle was in mid-lunge at Carter, who was holding onto Eagle's front legs.

"Andrew's right, sir," Newkirk said, still struggling to hold onto Eagle. "You can regain control. You've learned after all these years that Eagle doesn't control you; you can control Eagle. We're 'ere to 'elp you sir, and we're not leaving until we do."

"I think it's working," Carter replied from the opposite end. "His eyes are changing between red and yellow." Looking Eagle directly in the eye, he encouraged "That's it, sir. Just got to keep on fighting. You can beat this. We're right here." Finally, Eagle's eyes changed to yellow and remained there. It was only then that Carter let him go.

"Newkirk, go back to Klink's quarters and get a new uniform," Carter said, looking at the pieces of the tattered clothing that lay on the floor between his desk and the window. "Don't let Schultz or Hilda see you. I'll stay here with Eagle." Newkirk quickly did as he was asked after making sure that his fangs were gone and his eyes had returned to their normal color.

Carter watched as Eagle walked behind Klink's desk. A short time later, he could have sworn that he heard a low sobbing sound. By this time, Newkirk had returned with the new uniform. Still hidden behind the desk, Klink reached his hand over to grab the uniform that Newkirk gave to him. After a minute or two had passed, Klink slid into his chair, though he wasn't facing his prisoners. Carter and Newkirk saw that he was holding his head in his hands, and they could hear that he was definitely crying.

"I've done it again, haven't I?" Klink asked through his sobs. "When Hochstetter walked into this office and asked for you I had a pretty good idea what he wanted. I wanted to protect you both—I didn't mean to let my emotions get the better of me." Turning around, Klink could barely look them in the eyes. "But thank you. Your words helped me fight that beast Eagle within me—and win." Klink allowed a small smile to appear.

"You would 'ave done the same for us if our appetite got the better of us. I know you've always considered yourself a 'lone wolf," being the only werewolf 'ere at Stalag 13, but as long as Carter and me are 'ere you won't be alone." Carter nodded his agreement to Newkirk's statement.

"But I could have hurt you both! I could have hurt everyone in this entire Stalag!" Thinking for a moment, he added "I could have been shot!"

"Sir, please keep yourself calm. The last thing we need is another one of your episodes" Carter gently told his Kommandant. "But you didn't hurt us—you never have, and I don't believe you ever will. I mean, isn't that the important thing? Well, besides protecting your secret and all?" Carter was glad to see Klink nod his head at this statement.

"I'll make you another uniform sir, if you'd like. The usual with your torn one?" Newkirk asked, looking at the clothing that still lay on the floor.

"The usual. Burn them. About that new uniform, thank you—I'd like that." Klink was touched by Newkirk's gesture of kindness, and he allowed his usual smile to appear.

"I'm going to stay with the Kommandant for a while, just to make sure that Eagle doesn't resurface." Carter said, walking around the desk to stand by Klink. He could see Klink looking up at him, smiling, which he returned with his normal teeth.

Carefully Newkirk opened the door. He wanted to make sure that the coast was clear before he carried the torn clothing to Klink's stove. Hilda's eyes met his, and he could see that she was wide-eyed.

"I heard growling coming from the Kommandant's office. Is everything alright?"

"Yes, 'e was listening to a radio program. I believe it was 'Peter and the Wolf.'" Newkirk answered with only his head showing past the open door. He was glad that Hilda seemed satisfied by this answer, and she returned to her work. Turning around, he picked up the clothing and extremely quickly walked past Hilda's desk, without her noticing, to Klink's stove. He would have chuckled at his joke, except for the fact that he could only hope that Klink was still Klink back inside his office.

Newkirk returned to Klink's office, and both he and Carter stayed with their Kommandant until they were positive that Eagle wouldn't resurface. After forty-five minutes had passed, they were about to return to their barracks. However, Klink had a question that he needed to ask of them before they left.

"When I asked you about Colonel Magerlein a couple of days ago, how did you know that he had papers with him?"

"It was the way you asked, sir. You asked about 'im right after you knew that Colonel Hogan knew our secret. We all know how 'Unters work," Newkirk informed his Kommandant. He was glad to see that he bought this lie, and didn't even think about the fact that Newkirk and the others had been able to listen in on this private conversation.

After they returned to their barracks, they found that Hogan and the others had left his quarters and that Kinch and LeBeau were sitting around the table in the barracks playing gin, while Hogan was drinking some coffee. However, upon seeing his two men return, Hogan stood up and crossed his arms, since he wasn't too pleased that they had taken so long. "What took you so long? I thought you still had some liquid from last night?"

"We 'ad to go back to town, since we finished that liquid this morning," Newkirk lied. He was glad to see that Hogan seemed to buy it, and that he dropped the matter. He was also glad that Hogan had remembered to use the correct code word. They all knew that they couldn't talk about drinking their substance openly in the barracks, so they had agreed to use "liquid" for blood and "town" for hospital.

_I could have sworn they still had some leftover. I'm going to trust Newkirk, for now. After all, the last time I questioned him about a secret he turned out to be a vampire. Next thing he's going to tell me is that Klink is a werewolf_ Hogan thought to himself, quietly chuckling.

…

Back at Gestapo Headquarters, Hochstetter was engaged in a heated argument with a young Sergeant.

"I thought you said that you could get whatever you wanted from Colonel Klink?" the man asked. "What happened?"

"I don't know. I've never seen him stand up to me like that before. He probably wouldn't have, but he seemed to get very upset for some reason when I asked him to bring Newkirk and Carter to his office as well….Why did I even listen to you? Those two aren't Papa Bear—_Hogan_ is Papa Bear. If you have a problem with those two prisoners of Klink's, you're on your own."

The Sergeant stormed away at the same time that Hochstetter did. Turning back to his office, the young officer slammed his door, walked over to his desk, and then pounded it with both hands. Sitting down, he thought about his next course of action. _I should have captured those two prisoners when I posed as a member of the patrol and saw them with the American Colonel last night. Hochstetter should have been able to get those two out of Stalag 13 just now….This is certainly going to be a lot harder than I thought—not as easy as it was breaking into the Angels' headquarters in London. I thought I had a colleague in Colonel Magerlein, but I should never have given him those two pages from my raid. I hadn't expected him to be killed, or that this Colonel would steal those papers from his desk. At least I was able to put them back into code before I gave it to him—a code that only he and I knew, but hopefully this Colonel and his men will _never _find out. But Colonel Hogan is _sadly _mistaken if he thinks he can get rid of me that easily._ With those thoughts, Faust turned back to work on his new plan for achieving what he wanted from Newkirk and Carter.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten: Decoding the Truth

Unbeknownst to Sergeant Faust, Hogan had been working on decoding the papers that he had stolen from Colonel Magerlein's desk since the day after he, Carter, and Newkirk had gone to his house. Since Kinch and LeBeau hadn't known that they were vampires yet, he had started working on the papers on his own, and decided that he would finish on his own also. Even though Carter and Newkirk had told them what had occurred at Magerlein's house, they had left out the part about the papers that they had stolen. Hogan had to admit that it was one of the toughest codes he ever had to crack, though he knew that it was very important to see what Magerlein knew regarding vampires, as well as if there was any connection between him and Faust. He worked on it every free moment he had—though if he had known what the last two paragraphs had contained, he might have thought twice about it.

When Hogan finally decoded it the day after Klink had stood up to Hochstetter, it was late at night and all of the other men in the barracks had already gone to bed. Leaning over his table in his quarters and reading the papers that he had stolen that were now in plain English, after he had translated them from German, he saw that he already knew about most of the information—it was what Newkirk and Carter had already told him about vampires. However, he checked, and then rechecked the ending of the papers. _This doesn't make any sense_ he thought to himself. _Of course, what does make sense these days? If somebody had told me two weeks ago that Carter and Newkirk were vampires, I would have thought that they were even crazier than the Gestapo._ Getting up from his table, he walked over to his window and stared at the Kommandantur's office that was across from his barracks. Sighing, he thought _I'll talk to them tomorrow about this._ With those final thoughts, he decided to turn in for the night, knowing nothing about what was happening at that exact moment in Klink's quarters.

…

After what had happened the previous day in Klink's office, Newkirk and Carter had pre-arranged, with Klink's grateful permission, to spend the night with him. They knew that even though it was far from a full moon, being only the waxing crescent, any small thing could possibly set Eagle off. They had waited until they were positive that the rest of the men in their barracks were sleeping before slipping out, and when they arrived in his quarters, they could see that he was sitting up in bed in his pajamas, reading one of his books. Sitting down on his bed, they prepared themselves for what could be a very long night.

Inquisitively, Carter asked his Kommandant, "What are you reading, sir?"

Klink showed both of them his book while replying "Mein Kampf. But what does the Furher _really_ know about struggles?" He sighed wearily before adding, "When I had learned to manage—or at least, mostly manage," he said, wincing as he remembered the incident that had occurred the previous day, "my condition, I hadn't expected to trade one problem for another." He knew that Carter and Newkirk understood what he was referring to. At first, Eagle had only surfaced during the full moon, when he was even more ravenous than he had been in Klink's office yesterday, if that was even possible. Klink gulped as he remembered that Eagle had attacked many people in the countryside and the surrounding towns from where he was living at the time, but he wasn't sure if he had actually ever killed anybody. He could only hope that he hadn't. For the first couple of months after the Kommandant had managed to bring Eagle under his control, his other side never surfaced—but Eagle would not be tamed that easily. Though he never unwillingly surfaced during the full moon anymore, any extremely powerful show of emotion, such as rage that he had shown yesterday, could set Eagle free, as he always threatened to take over Klink. However, he had found that if he changed of his own free will, and was still able to retain his human intelligence, as he did a little over a week ago, then Eagle was mostly satisfied and would wait until those times. At the same time, Klink knew that he was lucky if Eagle only took complete control of him once a year, and so he was a little worried that this was actually his second time.

"I know sir, I know," Newkirk replied. From the very beginning, Klink had never hidden this information from either him or Carter. He knew that Hogan or any other human man would never be a match for the werewolf within, but that as vampires, they were well equipped to handle whatever Eagle wanted to throw at them. _I'm just glad that Klink's always been afraid of being caught by the patrols, and we've always been able to use that fear to keep Eagle at bay while the Gov'nor and us were out performing our missions. Goodness knows what should 'appen if the two were ever to cross paths outside of camp….But as long as Carter and me are 'ere, we'll always do our best to keep Eagle from going permanently out of control._ Noticing that it was getting late, he asked, "Don't you think you should be sleeping now, sir? Me and Carter will be 'ere all night, just like we talked about."

Putting down his book on his nightstand, Klink tried to stifle a yawn, as he didn't wish to go to bed but knew that he should be well-rested for his duties as Kommandant for the next day. However, instead of turning out his lamp he got out of bed, walked over to his safe, and after making sure that neither Carter nor Newkirk were peeking over his shoulder, opened it and removed a couple of canteens that he had stored inside. Before going back to his bed, he gave one each to Carter and Newkirk. "I was able to get some blood from the hospital today…Or, more correctly, Eagle was." Klink could barely stand the thought of having to drink blood for a living, and he certainly didn't have the courage to obtain it in his human form. However, Eagle possessed incredible speed, hearing, sense of smell, and the ability to track, and it had always been easy for him to sneak into the hospital, obtain the blood, and carry it off in his mouth. The Kommandant always parked his car with a uniform inside nearby the hospital, which fortunately had an alley nearby that nobody ever seemed to go in. Then, back at his Stalag, he would pour the blood into the canteens, so even if some unwanted person did open his safe, nobody would think to check the ordinary containers hidden under his other valuables. The Kommandant had never thought about what powers he might also have in his human form, as he had always been too ashamed to even think about using them.

Newkirk and Carter watched as their Kommandant made himself comfortable in his bed, and before long he was sound asleep. Making themselves as comfortable as they could on the floor at the foot of his bed, both men opened their canteens and took a couple swallows of the lukewarm substance that was inside. They agreed to take shifts, waking the other up every two hours. Before long, Carter's watch let them know that dawn was approaching, and they made their way back to their barracks before Hogan or any of the men woke up.

…

The next day's roll call was just like all the others, except that for once the weather was overcast, instead of the usual sunny days that the men often experienced there. Looking up, Carter and Newkirk could only hope that it would start raining soon, or at least remain cloudy during the entire day. Even though they had no physical problems with sunshine, they often felt that they were their most alive at night, or any time that it was relatively dark outside. Of course, the weather could well have served as a metaphor for the inevitable conversation between them and Hogan that was to follow.

After the prisoners had been released and had filed back inside the barracks, Hogan caught his two men's attention after Kinch and LeBeau headed into the tunnels to check for any radio messages that might have come in. "I have good news, and bad news. The good news is that I finished decoding the papers that we stole from Colonel Magerlein's house. The bad news is that, we need to talk." He watched as Carter and Newkirk first looked at each other, and then back at him with quizzical expressions. Hogan walked into his quarters, and he knew by the two pairs of footsteps that he heard behind him that they were following him. Once they were all inside, he closed the door and invited both of them to sit down on his lower bunk. Before he sat down in his chair facing them, he handed them the second page and told them to read it.

Hogan watched as his two men increasingly grew paler as they read the last two paragraphs that were on the second page. When they were done reading it, they looked at their commanding officer with wide eyes, but they saw that Hogan showed little emotion. "Would you two care to enlighten me about what this 'Angel Organization' is?"

Newkirk took the lead, trying to change the subject, skirt the issue, do anything that would prevent him from telling his commanding officer the truth. "It's not what you think, sir. It's nothing really—just some crazy Gestapo suspicion."

Leaning back in his chair, Hogan replied, "At the moment I don't know what to think. But if Magerlein considered it important enough to write down, then I wouldn't consider that 'nothing.' Besides," he added, giving the first paper to his two men for them to read over, "if the rest of this information is accurate, I wouldn't call it a 'suspicion.'"

Newkirk and Carter both sighed heavily. They knew that unlike their being vampires, this secret was bigger than them and was not entirely theirs to tell. At the same time, they knew that since their commanding officer had this first bit of information, there was little use in trying to deny it, especially since they knew how stubborn he was when he wanted something.

"I'm sure you must remember the radio message that Kinch originally gave you to give to Carter, and you know about Wings….'Er name is Anne—Anne Read. It's 'er organization, and me and Carter 'ere are proud members." They both broke out into small smiles, before Newkirk continued, "She's a vampire, same as us. I'd say there's about thirty or so of us in the Angels, though she's the only one who knows all those details—'ow many of us there are, our identities, what countries we're working in, stuff like that. She knows that we—vampires, that is—can be of great 'elp in winning the war for the Allies. Usually she sends 'er agents out alone, as part of the Underground—that way they don't 'ave to 'ide what they are until they meet their 'uman contacts. But 'er best agents, which include me and Carter, are often sent to work with teams or in pairs…She knew that you and the others would be arriving 'ere, and she knew that me talents could best be put to work 'ere. I guess you could call it the family business—me sister is 'er personal secretary. You should see 'ow stubborn Mavis can be at times, because I certainly didn't want to change 'er. I think she just couldn't stand the thought of 'er brother facing eternity alone."

Hogan stared at his corporal wide-eyed. _They always say if you don't want to know the answer to something, you shouldn't ask the question. This is just too surreal to be true_ he thought to himself_._ At the same time, he was completely fascinated by the fact that Anne seemed to know that he would become a POW at the Stalag _after_ Newkirk had arrived. "You mean—she can tell the future?...Besides, I thought you said you had never changed anyone before?"

Carter cut in, "That last part was in your dream sir; I remember you telling us about it. Also, yes, she can _sometimes_ tell what will happen; she does have powers that we don't fully understand or possess. But would you like to know who wins the war?" He didn't think it was possible for his commanding officer to become any more awestruck, yet he could have sworn Hogan's eyes were about ready to pop out of his head.

"Yeah, and if you believe that, we 'ave a bridge we'd like to sell you in Cleveland." Newkirk watched as Hogan quickly regained his normal composure.

"Wait—let me make sure I got this. The Angels are some kind of super group of vampire saboteur and/or espionage agents? Now I've heard everything," Hogan replied sarcastically.

_Not everything_ Newkirk thought to himself. _If you ever find out that our Kommandant is a werewolf, _then _you've 'eard everything. Of course, it's a good thing that Anne doesn't know about that either—she certainly wouldn't like it very much._

"Basically, yes. I mean, haven't you ever wondered why I came back to this Stalag after you got me out of Germany?" Carter asked. "Nobody had ever taught me how to be a vampire before, how to control my desire for blood before I met Newkirk. He read my mind shortly after I had arrived here, and knew that I was just like him—and how much I was unsure and confused about everything." Turning his head to smile at his friend, Carter turned back to his commanding officer and added, "He was the one who told me about Anne, and where I could find her in order to receive some help. Fortunately, she knew that I had the right stuff, and that I would be a good fit with your team. Naturally I wasn't too thrilled about becoming a POW again, but where else is a confused vampire to go? Newkirk taught me most everything that I know about being what I am, and I'll always be grateful for that."

Turning back to Newkirk, Hogan asked, "So, you're telling me that you came here of your own free will—that you weren't captured by the Krauts like your files said you were? I find that a bit hard to believe."

"You're not the only one Gov'nor. When Anne first told me about 'er plan for putting the Angels together I thought she was off 'er rocker. I certainly didn't fancy the idea of becoming a POW at first, but when she told me 'er visions of you and the others, I thought it over, long and 'ard. I don't want the Krauts to win this war any more than you do, so I decided to follow 'er lead and become one of 'er first agents. Besides, it doesn't 'urt that you learn to trust somebody after knowing them for seventy years either." He added, "But I _was_ captured by the Krauts, just not in the way that everybody thinks I was. It's bloody 'ard to get captured without appearing that you _want_ to get captured."

Hogan thought over what his two men had just told him. He knew that it had been a rather crazy week, and he was still shocked at this new development that his men had just told him about. At the same time, his mind flashed back to the radio message that Newkirk had showed him. He especially thought about the last sentence-_especially you Benjamin, or I wouldn't have assigned you to where you are now._ As much as he didn't want to admit it, he knew that what his two men were telling him were the truth. At the same time, he began to worry about something else that had been written in the message.

"Wings said that her organization had been found out—I'm going to assume she means that it was broken into. Do you think Colonel Magerlein was the one responsible?"

"That could be sir, so it's a good thing that we eliminated him when he did before he could tell anybody" Carter replied. "Though, we did think it might have been a sort of inside job in the beginning." Of course, neither Carter nor the two other men in the room could have known how wrong they were.

"All of Anne's agents know 'ow dangerous it could be if we were found out, but we're willing to risk our lives the same as anybody in this war, especially since we all possess the abilities to be of great 'elp. Unfortunately, there are many, not just 'Unters or those working for the Axis powers, who wouldn't 'esitate to try to stake us if they knew who they were working with. We're just thankful that you, Kinch, and LeBeau aren't like that."

Newkirk could see that Hogan appeared both angry and saddened at hearing this news. "You mean, people in our own army, even though we're on the same side? I don't like the sound of that at all. They should know that it doesn't matter what you are, just as long as you're helping us to win the war."

"Unfortunately, not everybody is as understanding as you and the others are. They believe that vampires will bite any living thing that moves, and that we're completely evil" Newkirk replied. [1]

Hogan allowed a smile to form as he replied, "I may have had my mixed feelings at first, but I never considered you or Carter to be _evil_. It's a shame that more people can't know the truth about vampires, and the good that they're capable of performing. After I spent a couple of weeks around each of you, I knew that you two were the kind of men that I wanted on my team….It seems that great minds think alike."

Newkirk was about to open his mouth to reply, when suddenly something made him stop. Tilting his head, he thought _No, you don't 'ave to come 'ere. We 'ave everything under control….Yes, our commanding officer knows about your organization, but you 'ave my _word_ that he won't tell anyone else, even if tortured. You need to work on getting your offices back together, and 'elping your other agents whose names 'ave also been leaked…Yes, tell me sister I send me love back to 'er._

At first, Hogan tried getting his corporal's attention when he seemed to go into a sudden and complete daze, as if mesmerized. Hogan even thought about waving his hand in front of Newkirk's face to make sure that he was still with them, but thought better about it. He was relieved that as suddenly as it had started Newkirk seemed to snap out of it, and he looked at his commanding officer to explain what had happened.

"That was Anne 'erself. I told 'er that everything's fine, but she wants you to promise us one thing. It's like I feared—she isn't 'appy at all that you know about 'er organization—so far, you're the first 'uman who does. It's very important that under no circumstances will you tell anybody, including Kinch or LeBeau, what we just told you right now. It would be better for all of us that way."

Newkirk could see that his commanding officer had conflicting feelings. He enjoyed knowing that Anne trusted him with her secret, but at the same time he didn't like lying to his two other men. However, he understood that there were simply some secrets that should never be shared beyond him and his two vampire members of his team. Hogan could only nod at what Newkirk had asked of him. Still, there was one thing that he didn't understand.

"If Anne just sent you one of your 'mind messages,' why did she bother to communicate with you over the radio? Surely she wouldn't have wanted Kinch and me to get suspicious, and then have us, plus LeBeau, find out that you were vampires."

"We've both been thinking the same thing sir," Carter said, taking over from Newkirk. "Maybe she _did_ want you to get suspicious, and find out about our secret? I know it doesn't make much sense, but maybe she knew that you, Kinch, and LeBeau could be trusted, and that if somebody like Colonel Magerlein were after us that it would be best that you knew, so that we all could stand together? Like I said, she can be a bit enigmatic at times."

Hogan thought over what Carter had just told him, before adding "There's still something that I'm not very comfortable about though. The more I think about what you two just told me, and what has been going on lately, the more I don't trust this Faust character. How do we know that he wasn't working with Colonel Magerlein? In case he comes after you two, we better start thinking of a plan for taking care of him." Hogan saw that his two men nodded their agreement to his statement, and immediately started coming up with various ideas. Unfortunately, neither of them knew that at that exact moment, Faust had been sitting in his office at Gestapo Headquarters, staring intently at the back of his door as if it would give him the answers that he was seeking. Suddenly, a devilish smile formed as he knew what he needed and had to do in order to accomplish his goals, and he carefully began to put his plan into action.

[1] _Dark Shadows, Interview with the Vampire_, and other media portraying vampires as conflicted or positive characters had not yet been released, which is what I based this exchange on, as well as influencing Hogan's confession in Chapter Seven.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven: Third Time's the Charm

The next day was still overcast, much as it had been the day before. Roll call was going as it always did, except Hogan still found himself thinking about Anne and her organization. He smiled to himself as he thought about how The Angels reminded him of his own Traveler's Aid Society, and the more he thought about it, the more he had to admit that he liked the sound and idea of it. However, right after the prisoners were dismissed, his thoughts were interrupted as a truck pulled in through the front gates of Stalag 13. Hogan and his men watched as the driver, who appeared to be a Sergeant based on his uniform, got out of the front part of the truck and walked into the Kommandantur's office. Neither he nor his men noticed that the truck had any passengers. Hogan and his men noticed that they had never seen this particular man before, and the Colonel motioned with his hands for them to follow him into his quarters, which they quickly did.

…

"Guten Morgen, Colonel," the Sergeant said to Klink, sharply saluting him. "I have come from Kommandant Brown's Stalag, where I am a Sergeant, to carry out his direct orders."

"Ah, Kommandant Brown—yes, I remember him well. How is he doing these days?" Klink asked with his usual smile, which was only made broader due to the friendly, yet direct, nature of this Sergeant.

"Not well, I am afraid. He has an important matter on his mind, which is why I have come to see you."

Upon hearing this news, Klink's smile fell from his face. "I am sorry to hear that. What can I do for the Kommandant this morning?"

"You see, we have an important guest visiting us next week, and Herr Kommandant wishes to fix the place up for his arrival, which includes painting the guest quarters. Unfortunately, many of our able-bodied guards and prisoners have taken sick. They should be well in a couple of days, but unfortunately that will be too late to accomplish the job in time for our guest's arrival."

"I see. May I ask the name of this guest, and what this has to do with me?" Klink asked, trying to figure out why the Sergeant was visiting him.

"Herr Kommandant has not told me—only that I am to come to you and ask for the following men. Apparently, he has heard what an excellent job they did painting the Luftwaffe Intelligence Headquarters, and he is hoping that they will perform with the same quality at his Stalag. The men are," the Sergeant paused, taking a piece of paper from his jacket and reading from it, "Colonel Hogan, and his men Sergeants Kinch and Carter, and Corporals LeBeau and Newkirk." The Sergeant then put the list back into his jacket pocket. "Do not worry—they will not get sick. All sick men have been placed in quarantine, and the worst cases have been sent to the hospital, to stop the cold from spreading and to help them recover."

It was then that Klink's smile fell even further from his face. _I don't like the sound of that first part_, Klink and Hogan thought at exactly the same time.

"Do you have any idea how long Kommandant Brown needs these prisoners for?" After what had happened the other day with Eagle, Klink didn't feel like arguing with this Sergeant for why Newkirk and Carter should remain in camp, especially after having stood up to Hochstetter. At the same time, if something bad _did_ happen regarding his other side, he didn't want them to be gone for too long.

"The Kommandant feels like it should take only a day or two, and hopefully no more than three," the Sergeant informed him.

_I can control myself for three days…hopefully. Besides, it sounds like a simple enough job, things should be fine. Also, if Kommandant Brown is asking for Sergeant Kinch and Corporal LeBeau as well, then it must not be anything directly related to Corporal Newkirk and Sergeant Carter_ Klink told himself. "Permission is granted to take the prisoners to Kommandant Brown's Stalag. But I plan on calling each day to ensure that they haven't tried to escape."

Back in Hogan's quarters, just like he had done three days ago, the Colonel once again turned his attention from the coffee pot to ask Newkirk and Carter whether or not this Sergeant was telling the truth.

"I believe 'e is, sir, though 'e's proving almost impossible to read….Remember, our telepathy doesn't work all of the time, unfortunately." As much as Newkirk tried to concentrate, he found that the Sergeant's mind was still a complete mystery to him, which naturally he didn't like in the least.

Hogan then turned to Carter, who only added to Newkirk's bad news. "I can't read him either, sir. I'm trying, really I am, but you might as well be asking me to read a wall." Hogan knew that he would have to rely once again on his own instincts. The job that he and his men were asked to perform sounded harmless enough, but he didn't know if he cared for the Sergeant's friendly manner—it seemed almost _too_ friendly and polite to him.

Back in Klink's office, the Kommandant summoned Schultz to his office, and told him to get Hogan and all of the men that the Sergeant has just asked for. Quickly saluting his Kommandant, Schultz turned, left the Kommandantur, and made his way over to barracks two. Entering before knocking, he smiled as he saw that Hogan and all of his men had made their way to the table in the barracks, after they had unplugged the coffee pot.

"Colonel Hogan, Klink has requested you and all of your men's presence in his office. I bet you will _never_ guess why he wants you all."

Turning around to face Schultz, Hogan replied, "Oh, I think I have a pretty good idea, Schultz. One of Kommandant Brown's men is here because he wants us to paint the guest quarters because an important guest is visiting him next week."

Schultz could only stare suspiciously wide-eyed at Hogan. "Wait, how do you know that?...Never mind, I don't _want_ to know, I know _nothing!_" Schultz started turning away so that he wouldn't hear what else the Colonel knew, only to turn back and tell Hogan, "But you better do as the Kommandant says." He watched as all five men got up from the table and made their way to the door. Right as Hogan passed Schultz, the Sergeant told him, "But please, Colonel Hogan, none of your monkey business." With that, Schultz followed after LeBeau, who was the last one to leave the barracks, with Hogan, Kinch, Newkirk and Carter leading the way.

Once they approached the Kommandantur, Hogan gestured with his hand for his men to wait outside while he went to talk to Klink, even though Schultz did object at first to the Colonel not following Klink's explicit directions. Entering the building, and walking over to Klink's office, Hogan quickly opened the door and stepped inside. He noticed that the Sergeant that Klink had been talking to was no longer present, so the Colonel thought that he had gone to gather his truck. After a quick discussion with the Kommandant, Hogan learned what he already knew about the painting job that the other Kommandant wanted done for his important guest. Going back inside, Hogan was the first one to enter the Sergeant's truck, followed by all of his men. What he didn't know was that Klink was watching from his window, and the Kommandant could only hope that the hours and days would go by quickly so that Carter and Newkirk would be safely back in camp as he watched the truck drive away.

…

The ride started pleasant enough, even though by now the heavens had opened up and a steady rain had begun to fall. Hogan and his men were put into the back part of the truck, which was separated from the front part by a divider that reached from the floor to the ceiling. They noticed that the Sergeant was guarding them, though Hogan could only wonder how he and his men had somehow managed to miss the fact that the truck had a passenger, who apparently was now the driver. _Maybe he was in the back, and he and the Sergeant had switched places? I don't like the feel of this_, Hogan thought to himself. Unfortunately, both of his hunches would prove to be correct. Suddenly, Hogan heard what was the unmistakable hissing sound of a flat tire, and the truck came to an abrupt stop, throwing all the men to the back of the divider. Before any of them could sit up again, Hogan noticed that the guard quickly left the truck, but closed the back door just as they were getting their bearings. Hogan could only assume that the guard had left to fix the tire, and he quickly looked around, making sure that his men were alright and seeing by their expressions that they were thinking the same thing.

However, just as suddenly as they had heard the first hissing sound, they heard another sound, though the Colonel couldn't put his finger on it right away. While he had been checking his men, he, nor anybody else, had noticed that the divider had opened just a couple of centimeters, and that the Sergeant had thrown a small item into the back of the truck. Newkirk was the first one to notice what was happening, however, as the truck quickly began filling up with smoke.

"Sleeping gas!" he shouted. Suddenly, there was a mad scramble as everybody tried to open the back door of the truck, but that they found that it was completely stuck and wouldn't budge. Newkirk and Carter were so disoriented by what was quickly happening that their extraordinary strength wasn't working, and as soon as it had started, all of the men had quickly passed out.

Just after he had thrown the container filled with sleeping gas into the back of the truck, the driver got out to stand by the side of the road. He looked to his right and left, in front of him and behind him, and a devilish grin formed for the second time that week as he saw that nobody was in sight. "As the Americans say, the third time's the charm," Sergeant Faust said to the Sergeant from Kommandant Brown's Stalag, who had been standing next to him on the side of the road.

"Your plan did indeed work….Now, about that money you promised me for helping you with your kidnapping?"

Faust managed to keep his smile as he slowly turned to the Sergeant. "Money?" he asked. "Tell me, Sergeant Adler, how did you ever manage to advance in rank? You should have learned that the Gestapo never pays for what they want done. _Never._" Before Sergeant Adler could respond, Faust quickly got out his gun from inside his jacket and shot the Sergeant in the heart. Then, after making sure that the sleeping gas had dissipated and was no longer a danger to him, he opened the door and picked up the unconscious bodies of Kinch and LeBeau, and placed them by the side of the road. _This way, there will be no witnesses,_ Faust thought to himself, looking at the lifeless body of Adler. _Well, except for that Kommandant Klink, and I hardly think he's brave or smart enough to worry about a couple of prisoners, or to even remember to call up Kommandant Brown._ _As for these two,_ he thought, looking at the knocked-out Kinch and LeBeau, _if they're caught and shot as escaped prisoners, so much the better._ Finishing his thoughts, Faust quickly walked over to the back of the truck and opened the door, and then, picking up the collar of the Colonel's bomber jacket, dragged Hogan to his side. Removing his jacket and tossing it on top of Kinch, he rolled up Hogan's shirt sleeve. Faust then took out a syringe that he had kept hidden, even from Adler, inside his jacket, and after finding a choice vein, quickly injected the black substance into the Colonel. Then, before he got back inside the truck, he took out two more syringes and performed the same actions on Kinch and LeBeau.

…

When Hogan awoke, he found that he was inside a cell that looked almost identical to the cooler that was used back at Stalag 13. He wasn't sure what hurt more—his head, which had been hurt when he had fallen into the truck's divider, or his arm. _Wait—why does my arm hurt?_ Hogan asked himself. He had expected that he would need to take off his bomber jacket to inspect his arm, but looking down, he noticed that he wasn't wearing it. Instead, he rolled up his sleeve, and noticed the recent puncture mark. _What is this for?_ he asked himself. He stopped to think for a second, before asking himself _Never mind that for the moment—where am I?_

Before he had a chance to get his full bearings, Hogan heard what sounded like Newkirk and Carter groaning nearby. "Newkirk? Carter? Where are you—are you alright?"

"We're fine, Colonel—at least mostly" they answered at the same time.

"Me 'ead 'urts like 'ell, and I'm sure Carter's does too….Colonel, where are we?" Newkirk was just as confused as his commanding officer was. Suddenly, as if from out of nowhere, Faust appeared in front of their locked cells. Pacing back and forth, he looked from one cell to the next, since Newkirk and Carter, and Hogan, had been put into adjoining cells.

Faust stopped in front of Newkirk's and Carter's cells, and turned to face them. "It is good to finally meet Corporal Benjamin Putnam and Sergeant Stanly Miller that, up until now, I have only had the pleasure of reading about." Then, in his best Bela Lugosi impression, he added, "I bid you welcome."

"Cut it out, that's not funny," Carter said, shooting Faust an annoyed, angry look. Then, suddenly, the truth dawned on both him and Newkirk.

"You're the one who broke into Wing's offices back in London! It wasn't Colonel Magerlein!" they exclaimed at the same time.

"I hadn't expected him to be killed, but I'm glad that he was able to serve as a 'red herring,'" Faust told them, confirming this new truth.

"What do you want with us?" Hogan angrily asked from his cell. "Whatever it is, you're not getting it." This caused Faust to walk over to Hogan's cell, and the two men exchanged looks of defiance.

"Just a simple matter of knowing more about the Angels, finding out their secrets—maybe getting a couple of them to turn traitor and work for Germany," Faust replied sinisterly.

"You think any of them would really 'elp you? You must be batty," Newkirk replied from inside his cell.

Faust walked back to Newkirk's cell, and turned to face him. "_Wer im Glashaus sitzt, soll nicht mit Steinen werfen. _He who sits in the glass house shouldn't throw stones. Or, as you Americans say, this is the pot calling the kettle black."

"English," Newkirk angrily mumbled under his breath.

"What did you say?"

"I'm not American, I'm English."

At this, Faust spat on the floor. "American, English, what does it matter? You are all enemies of the Fatherland, and will be dealt with accordingly! We Gestapo have ways of making people talk—you _will_ tell me all of your secrets. Even vampires get hungry after awhile." Walking back to Hogan's cell, he added, "Perhaps I will learn a thing or two about Papa Bear and _his_ organization in the process."

"You've got the wrong man if you think I'm Papa Bear," Hogan replied, keeping a calm face even though he was very angry on the inside. "Besides," he added, with a slight hint of his usual twinkle, "Do you really think Papa Bear would allow himself to be caught like this?"

"Even the best agents fall, Colonel," Faust replied. With that, he left Hogan's sight. Hogan could hear Faust walking down the hallway, opening a door, and then all was quiet.

Turning to face the wall that was in front of him, Hogan told Newkirk and Carter, "We need to figure out a way to get out of here. Do you think you can bend the cell bars open?" Hogan could hear his men getting up and walking to their cell door, so he knew that they were putting his plan into action. However, instead of hearing the bars being bent out of shape, all he heard was...nothing.

"I'm sorry sir, but they won't budge. We may be vampires, but we're not Superman," they said at the same time.

"What about if you try punching through the wall? There has _got_ to be a way to get out of here."

Hogan expected to hear something that would have told him that Plan B was working. However, he knew it wasn't by the sound of Newkirk saying, "Ow! That bloody 'urt!" and then cursing under his breath.

"Sorry Newkirk. I didn't mean for it to hurt," Hogan replied apologetically.

"That's alright, sir. You didn't know. These certainly aren't like the cells back at the cooler—those bars 'ave always been easy to bend….But I've got an idea of me own. I've never tried it before, but 'opefully it will work. I'm going to send one of me 'mind messages' to Kinch and LeBeau, and see if they can come out 'ere and 'elp us… wherever ''ere' is." Sitting back down on his bench, Newkirk and Carter stared off at the wall that was situated before them, and they put as much, if not more, concentration into trying to contact them as Newkirk had in finding Colonel Magerlein's house. They must have tried for thirty minutes, and Newkirk even tried to contact Anne. They didn't know that Hogan's two other men were still unconscious and were therefore unable to receive their mental S.O.S., but they were rather surprised when they found that they couldn't get in contact with Anne either. "I'm sorry sir, but nobody's responding."

"We'll try again later," Carter added, almost apologizing for their failure.

Hogan leaned against the wall of his cell, messaging his forehead, though trying not to apply too much pressure since he found that it definitely still hurt from when it had bumped into the divider. _There has_ got _to be a way to get out of here_ he thought to himself. Suddenly, he felt a stabbing pain in his arm where the location of the injection was, and he couldn't help but let out a low groan.

Newkirk and Carter had been leaning against their cell after their failed attempts at communication, but they suddenly sat up when they heard that their commanding officer was in pain. "What is it, sir? We heard you groaning," Carter asked.

"Faust must have injected me with something. There's a fresh puncture mark in my arm, and it certainly hurts a whole lot."

"I know what that is, sir. You see, it takes a _lot_ of sleeping gas to knock out a vampire—Faust must 'ave learned that when 'e ransacked Anne's offices. The dosage required can be lethal to a 'uman, so he probably gave you an agent to 'elp counteract the effects…I can only 'ope that 'e gave one to Kinch and LeBeau as well."

"I certainly hope that as well," Hogan thought to himself out loud. Having settled the matter of the mysterious injection, there was something else that weighed heavily on his mind. "The only time you two haven't been able to read minds is when I had that nightmare about a week ago. Is there anything wrong that I should know about?"

Newkirk and Carter looked at each other. While it was true that there were some human minds that they couldn't read, there was another distinct possibility. Still, that truth was too horrifying for them to even think about.

Newkirk cautiously began, "Do you remember when I told you that the ability to read minds increases with age? It can work both ways—a vampire won't be able to read the mind of another recently changed vampire. Both of these effects won't 'appen until the vampire 'as been changed for at least three months, though it often takes at least a full year."

Hogan thought about what Newkirk had just told him. "Do you think that the Sergeant that was visiting Klink in his office was a recently changed vampire then?"

Taking over from Newkirk, Carter said, "That could be true. But there's something else sir, and we think you should know about it…Neither me nor Newkirk can read Faust's mind either."

Before Hogan had a chance to think about what Carter had told him and to worry about it, Faust reappeared. Looking at his watch, Hogan noticed that a couple of hours had managed to pass since Faust had stopped bothering them. He could see that Faust was clutching a blood bag that was typically used in transfusions. Ignoring Hogan's cell, which Faust came upon first, the Gestapo agent walked over to Newkirk's and Carter's cell.

"I can make this easy on you, before you get _too_ hungry. If you want this, all you have to do is talk," Faust held the bag up in front of their eyes, gently letting it slightly swing back and forth. Though they didn't mean to, Hogan's two men couldn't help but let their eyes grow a slight greenish tint as they eyed the bag. Their expression of desire didn't escape Faust, and he allowed another devilish smile to form.

Still, Newkirk and Carter quickly turned away. "We'll never talk, and no matter what you do to us, you can't make us," they said at the same time.

"That's a pity—really it is….I hadn't expected to be attacked driving home from that officer's party about a week ago, but now, that I have you two as my prisoners, I'm really glad that I was. After all, they say that you're supposed to fight fire with fire," Faust told them.

Newkirk's and Carter's quizzical looks changed to ones of equal amazement and fear as they turned their heads to face Faust, and saw that his eyes had changed. "Blimey!" Newkirk exclaimed. "The bloody Kraut's a vampire!"


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve: Unlikely Hero

Hogan hadn't been looking at Faust while he was talking to Carter and Newkirk in their cell since he had turned away once the Sergeant had passed his cell, but as soon as he heard what his corporal had said, he suddenly turned to face the Gestapo agent. Much to his horror, the Colonel knew that what Newkirk had said was correct, as he also noticed his green eyes and upper fangs. _There seems to be more vampires in the world than ants at an Independence Day picnic. Here I thought we were up the creek without a paddle before. Now I don't even think we have a creek_ Hogan thought to himself, as he tried to keep himself from hyperventilating. After all, it didn't take a genius for him to know who the cat was and who the mouse was in this equation.

"If you lay one 'and or fang on the Gov'nor, so 'elp me…" Newkirk said from inside his cell, his eyes glowing green and his fangs bared while he quickly got up to stand by the cell door, his hands gripping the bars. Even though he was locked up, the last thing he would do was let Faust hurt his commanding officer, especially in a vampiric fashion. Turning his head slightly, he saw that Carter was right besides him, the same protective expression evident on his face.

"You two are _not_ in the position to make _any_ threats," Faust began sinisterly. "Besides, I am certainly not going to feed on the Colonel, if that is what you are thinking….The last time I checked, dead men don't reveal any secrets." With that, Faust began to turn away to walk down the hallway again. However, he turned back to face his two vampire prisoners. "I suppose this means that there's more for me, then," he told them as he drank the entire blood bag in two swallows. He figured that if they saw that he had something that they didn't, something that they needed to survive, they might be more willing to divulge their secrets.

Passing Hogan's cell, he turned to face the Colonel. "You already know how your two men are going to be tortured—I hear that starvation is a _nasty_ way to die…again. As for you, I shall be content in the knowledge that there is nothing you can do to relieve their hunger."

If Hogan had been showing any outward signs of fear, those quickly vanished into anger when he thought about his two men. As their commanding officer, it was his job to help and protect them, and he felt a sense of powerlessness knowing that Faust was correct. At the same time, he was worried about what Faust had done to Kinch and LeBeau. "What have you done with my other two men?" he asked of the Gestapo agent.

"You mean, Sergeant Kinchloe and Corporal LeBeau? They should be regaining consciousness soon, as I gave them the same counteragent that I administered to you. Killing them in cold blood would have been too easy—they deserve to be tried and brought before a firing squad as two of Papa Bear's spies. Or, once Major Hochstetter hears that they tried to escape from Stalag 13 and succeeded, but only so far, that should be the end of your Kommandant's _illustrious_ career." He added, "I suppose you're wondering who stopped you while you were all traveling back to your Stalag the other day—here's your suspicious German patrol guard. I'm also glad that my plan worked—I knew that your Kommandant would recognize me from the officer's party, so I was able to trick that greedy Sergeant Adler and changed him into a vampire to get you and your Colonel away from his Stalag. Naturally, there won't be any witnesses," Faust told them, smiling sinisterly. With that, Hogan could once again hear Faust walking down the hallway and then opening and closing a door.

As soon as Hogan knew that Faust had left, he turned his attention to discussing matters with Carter and Newkirk, who by this time had sat back down. He knew that he was not the type of man who usually shared his anxieties with them, but at the same time he knew that they were all in this together. "Do you believe what Faust said, about not feeding on me? As you two know, the last thing I want to become is a vampire."

Newkirk sighed gently before answering Hogan's question. "The Kraut actually makes sense. Thankfully, 'e won't be able to read any of our minds for a while yet, so 'e won't know anything about either of our organizations unless we tell 'im." Then, he added at the same time that Carter said, "We'd rather die than reveal any secrets."

Hogan thought about what his two men had just told him. Though he was well aware of the fact that life-and-death was a constant reality of war, he had always tried to live for the mission, and tried not to dwell on the subject too much. Naturally, he had no idea how the concept would apply to vampires. "Exactly how long can a vampire go without drinking blood? How does 'starvation' apply to you two?"

From inside their cell, Carter turned to Newkirk. He had never given the subject much thought before, since to him it had always been pretty easy—drink when you're hungry, and don't when you're not. Since Newkirk had more experience, he took the lead in answering Hogan's questions. "Seven days—ten if we're lucky. As far as starvation, the symptoms vary between individuals, but the most common begins with an 'eadache, and then stomach and muscle cramps, lethargy and irritability." He quickly added at the same time as Carter, "I suppose we'd like to apologize in advance for any outbursts towards you—please know that it's nothing personal."

Hogan thought over what his two men had told him. _We've gotten out of 'sticky wickets' before, and I just _know _that we'll be able to get out of them again. Hopefully before those seven days are up, because I don't even want to think about how I'd feel without them._ Replying to his men, he told them "I understand that you won't be yourselves after a while—no offense taken for any outbursts. We need to put our minds together to figure out a way to get out of this mess….But there's still something that I don't understand. I noticed that Faust only had one set of fangs, but you both have two. And since Faust is a vampire, why wouldn't he have been able to catch you that night?" Hogan asked, referring to Newkirk.

"Fortunately, mind reading isn't the only power that recently changed vampires don't possess. It will take a couple of weeks before the second set of fangs grows in, as well as greater speed and strength." He then added, informing his Colonel, "I'm going to try to contact Kinch and LeBeau again." However, ever since Faust had mentioned his Kommandant, another idea had begun forming in his mind. Sighing, he thought to Carter _You know who we're going to 'ave to contact if we can't reach them_.

Carter turned to face Newkirk, wide-eyed as he knew who Newkirk was referring to. _You can't be serious—are you? Not after what happened in his office recently after Hochstetter left. He's having too hard of a time controlling Eagle—it's too risky._ Still, Carter sighed to himself. He could sense that nobody in the Underground or London knew where they were, and by the time they were found they would most likely be nothing but piles of dust. He knew that Eagle had the ability to pick up scents and track them, so he thought to Newkirk _I don't want to admit it, but you're right—but _only _as a measure of last resort._ Knowing who they might have to turn to, Carter and Newkirk began trying to contact Hogan's two other men with all of the concentration that they could muster.

…

By this time, Kinch and LeBeau had managed to regain consciousness from the effects of the sleeping gas. Sitting up quickly, they instantly regretted it as their heads were still hurting from when they had bumped into Newkirk and Carter in the back of Faust's truck. At the same time, they rolled up their sleeves when they noticed the throbbing pain from where Faust had injected them with the counteragents and looked down at the injection site, wondering about what had happened after they had been knocked out.

Still, their own comfort and safety wasn't their top priority as they wondered what had happened to Hogan, Newkirk and Carter. "What do you think the Bosch did with mon Colonel, and Newkirk and Carter?" LeBeau turned to ask Kinch, as they slowly began to get to their feet.

"Other than this being a kidnap attempt, I'm not sure. This probably has something to do with their being vampires, or we wouldn't be sitting here. Klink isn't expecting us to be done with our painting job at Kommandant's Brown Stalag for at least a whole day, so that gives us at least," Kinch looked at his watch, "twelve hours to look for them before he notices that we're missing. Still, it wouldn't do us or them any good if we caught colds from being in these wet clothes." Even though it had stopped raining, the sky was very cloudy, and although the trees had been able to provide some cover, they had still managed to become thoroughly soaked. "We should head back for a change of clothes, and I'll radio the Underground to see if anybody knows anything that we don't."

"Oui, mon ami. But we need to hurry—I hate to think what that filthy Bosch might have done with them." With that, they started to quickly yet carefully make their way back to their Stalag, keeping an eye out for any patrols, though all the while unaware that Newkirk and Carter were still trying to telepathically contact them.

…

Back inside his office, Klink was blissfully unaware of the events that had occurred after Hogan and his men had left his Stalag. He thought that they had arrived at Kommandant Brown's Stalag by now, and were fixing up his guest quarters as the Sergeant had told him. Taking a break from his usual stack of paperwork, he was just about to dig into his late lunch, which was a sandwich, when a sudden fuzzy sensation in his brain interrupted him. Setting his lunch back on his plate, he tilted his head, since he knew that the sensation could only mean that either Carter or Newkirk were trying to contact him.

From inside his cell, Carter swore that if Newkirk's eyes had any more of a burning appearance that they would have been able to cut their way out of their cell. He knew that his friend had managed to contact Klink when he suddenly tilted his head.

_Sir, I'm going to need you to stay calm for this, since I don't want to alarm you or make you lose control. But me, Carter, and Colonel Hogan are in a bit of a sticky wicket. Faust tricked you—'e sent an unknown Sergeant to get us away from your Stalag, and now 'e's made us 'is prisoners….We need your 'elp….And did I mention that 'e's a vampire?_

Upon hearing that they were in trouble, Klink could once again feel his protective rage building up within him. He was furious that he had been tricked, and he hated to think what Faust could be doing to them, both as a Gestapo agent and a vampire. Clenching his teeth and gripping his chair, he told himself _Wilhelm, it won't do them any good for you to lose control of yourself. It's imperative that you don't give into the beast within you. _The Kommandant slowly began to take deep breaths, closed his eyes, clasped his hands together and tried to make himself think calm, relaxing thoughts, as Newkirk had once taught him. This continued for several long minutes, and every time he felt Eagle wanting to break free or the convulsions begin, it only made him concentrate all the harder. Finally, he felt enough inner peace and calm to realize that Eagle wasn't a threat. _If Eagle and I have the power to help you, we will. Whatever Faust wants, don't give it to him. I know we may be on opposite sides in this war, but he has simply crossed the line. Please try to hold on._

Even though he had been hungry all day and had been looking forward to his lunch, Klink found that his appetite had vanished when he heard that Newkirk and the others were in trouble. Still, he knew that in order for this rescue mission to be a success, the last thing he needed was losing any control that he had over Eagle, such as being distracted by the first appetizing rabbit or mouse that he saw. He made himself eat his meal while he thought of the necessary preparations that had to be done. As soon as he was done eating, he picked up his phone and called up the officer who was to be his replacement in his Stalag, and told him a story about having some pressing errands to run in Berlin that would last about two weeks. _I only hope that nobody, such as General Burkhalter or Major Hochstetter, tries to verify my story._ At the same time, he called Schultz into his office to explain the same "truth" to him, while requesting that he drive him to Hammelburg, where he would then catch a train to Berlin. He knew that it would look suspicious if he didn't take his car with him, but at the same time he didn't want it to be found abandoned outside of the Stalag either. He could only hope that wherever the three men were that they were around or past Hammelburg in the same direction, since he didn't want Eagle to waste valuable time doubling back.

Klink had hoped to leave after the evening roll call which was to take place in a couple of hours, so when he had telephoned his replacement he had informed him that his leaving was of the utmost importance and that he would need to arrive at Stalag 13 immediately. Walking back to his quarters, he began to pack his field pack with all of the necessary items that he would need on his trip. As he gathered his essentials, he laid everything out on his bed: clothes, including his uniform; two extra pairs of monocles; money for hotel and food; and a gun with ammunition. He only hoped that he had enough German marks to last for the duration of his journey, since although he knew Eagle wouldn't mind it, the thought of having to sleep on the open ground and eat whatever he could catch wasn't exactly appealing to him. He was glad that an hour after he had finished packing and he was back in his office trying to read Mein Kampf to pass the time, he heard a car pull up and could only hope that it was his replacement. Looking out of his window and noticing the passenger get out, he smiled to himself as he noticed that it was.

Even though he still had thirty minutes before the evening roll call, Klink felt that he couldn't wait another minute so he told Schultz to issue it early. He walked outside his Kommandantur's office to listen to Schultz give his report, and he tried to pay attention to what his Sergeant was saying. However, he found that his mind was so busy concentrating on his mission ahead that there could have been a mass escape going on and he probably wouldn't have noticed. Still, his eyes momentarily glanced at the empty spots where Hogan, Newkirk, and Carter usually stood and he felt a fierce resolve to do everything in his power to help them. _As long as I have Eagle by my side, and we're working with each other, not against one another, I _promise _that no serious harm will come to any of them._ At the same time, he couldn't help but wonder if Kinch and LeBeau were alright after he noticed that they weren't in their spots either. _I wish I knew where they were, so I could tell them that everything was going to be alright. _Sighing, he thought to himself, _But would they believe me? For all I know, they may still be angry that I gave that Sergeant permission to remove Colonel Hogan and his men from my Stalag._

Of course, Klink had no way of knowing that at that precise moment, Kinch and LeBeau were down in the tunnels, and that they were very worried since the Underground didn't have any information about Hogan's or his men's location. After making sure that the coast was clear in their barracks, they emerged from the tunnels and walked out of the door just in time to see that Klink was in his car, and that Schultz was driving him outside of the gates.

Upon seeing their confused looks, Sergeant Olsen turned to them and informed them as he pointed to Klink's departing car, "If you're looking for the Kommandant, you can see that you just missed him. By the way, I thought you two were over at Kommandant's Brown Stalag, fixing up his guest quarters?"

Upon hearing Olsen's question, Kinch turned to LeBeau. They knew that the Sergeant was trustworthy, so they decided to tell him the non-supernatural truth about what had happened, while making him promise that he wouldn't tell anybody else. "If anybody asks why we're back in camp, just tell them that LeBeau felt sick and got the Kommandant's permission to let us return here," Kinch told Olsen, as he noticed that the other prisoners were beginning to stare at them.

"Why do I have to be the sick one?" LeBeau retorted, crossing his arms.

Turning to face his friend, Kinch replied, "Because you're the type to faint, and I'm not. It wouldn't be as believable if it was the other way around." Before the other prisoners from their barracks could pay too much attention to the fact that he and LeBeau were back, the three of them turned around and headed back into the tunnels, hoping to come up with a way to save their commanding officer and his men.

…

As Schultz drove his car to Hammelburg, Klink found himself thinking about the mission that lay ahead for him. He tried not to blame himself for letting himself be tricked by Faust, yet he knew that if he had only stood up to the Sergeant that Faust had sent to his Stalag, none of them would be in the mess that they currently found themselves in. _I've heard Newkirk refer to these situations as 'wicky stickets,' and this is certainly_ _a 'wicky sticket' alright._ At the same time, he found another problem was weighing heavily on his mind. Though he had learned to mostly manage his condition on his own, Klink felt that Carter and Newkirk had been his prisoners for so long that he couldn't remember life without them. He knew that it would take every ounce of control and restraint to make Eagle bend to his well, and not the other way around. Though he had never considered himself a very religious man, he bowed his head and silently prayed for a couple of minutes that he would have the strength and willpower necessary to carry out his assignment. Before he knew it, he was inside Hammelburg's border, and he allowed himself to sigh before he directed Schultz where to take him. Looking outside his window, he noticed that the moon was clearly visible and that it was first quarter. _Heaven help me if I'm still looking for them during the full moon_ Klink thought to himself. Then, right before he got out of his car, having arrived at his destination, he took a couple of aspirin that he had also placed in his field pack. Though no part of his body hurt at the moment, he knew that this was about to change very quickly.

After he left his car and waved farewell to his Sergeant, Klink quickly started looking for the first deserted alleyway that he could find. He could only hope that the aspirin would work quickly. Finding what he was looking for, Klink quickly began to get undressed and folded the clothes into his field pack, sat down, and concentrated with all his might on carefully and cautiously letting Eagle free. He winced and tried to keep himself from screaming as the extremely painful transformation and convulsions began, causing him to double over and clutch his stomach, and he could feel every part of his anatomy changing from man to wolf. After what seemed like an eternity but was only a couple of minutes, any sight of Klink was gone and Eagle was lying in his place. Eagle burrowed under the field pack until he knew that it was securely wrapped over his back, before quickly scratching his ear with his hind foot. He then quickly took notice of his surroundings, and was glad that nobody seemed to be in sight. _Alright, let's go_ Klink told his other half. Holding his nose in the air and sniffing, Eagle walked out of the alley until he picked up what he thought was a familiar smell. He walked faster, and when he was positive that he had caught Hogan's scent, went into a full run as he began to make his way out of Hammelburg.

…

Back inside their cell, Newkirk looked at his watch and realized that it was well past the usual time that the evening roll call occurred. He was still sitting with his back leaning against the wall of his cell, and he tried to gather his strength as it had taken a lot of energy to contact Klink. He knew that telepathy was always easier between two vampires instead of a vampire and a werewolf. Still, a smile formed as he knew that he had succeeded in reaching his Kommandant, and that Eagle was on the way to help free them. Turning to Carter, he thought _I was able to reach our Kommandant, and 'e's on 'is way as we speak. So far, e' seems to be in full control of Eagle._ Upon hearing the good news, Carter allowed himself to smile as well.

Turning to his commanding officer, Carter told him "We were able to reach Kinch, sir. He and LeBeau should be on their way as we speak. As you know, the Kommandant still thinks that they're painting the guest quarters for Kommandant Brown, so they won't have to attend roll call for at least a day or two." After he had finished relaying the information to his Colonel, Carter turned back to Newkirk. _I hate having to lie to Colonel Hogan—I really wish that I didn't have to._

_I know Carter, I know—I'm not too crazy about the idea meself. Still, 'ow do we explain that cowardly Klink is coming to rescue us, let alone the fact that e's a werewolf? I just 'ope that when 'e gets 'ere, e's still able to maintain 'is secret. Who _knows _what should 'appen if our Colonel were to discover the truth. I just 'ope we're never forced to take sides._ With that, the two men tried to make themselves as comfortable as they could in their cell, hoping to get a couple hours of sleep so that they could approach the problem of trying to break out of their prison with fresh minds the following day.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen: All for One, One for All

Back inside the tunnels, Kinch and LeBeau exchanged glances. So far, their plan at trying to find Hogan, as well as Newkirk and Carter, had been a dismal failure. After they had watched their Kommandant depart from the Stalag, they had made their way back inside their barracks with Olsen, and had contacted the Underground again—with no good news from any agent that they had managed to get in contact with. The two men knew that they only had a couple of days at most to find their missing teammates, and they had no idea how long Carter and Newkirk could last without blood.

Suddenly, Kinch came up with an excuse to get Olsen to leave the tunnels. Once he was positive that the Sergeant was gone, having watched him climb up the ladder and into the barracks, he turned to face LeBeau. "You know, they would be able to help us," Kinch began as he explained his new plan.

The Corporal immediately understood what the Sergeant was trying to tell him, and dread quickly filled his face. "But we can't! Not after all those stories that we've heard, about 'our kind' not getting along with each other."

Kinch put his hands on the smaller man's shoulders. "But this is Newkirk and Carter we're talking about. If we can't trust them, who can we trust?"

LeBeau allowed himself to sigh. "Oui, I know. But still—we've both heard about entire families breaking up, engagements being called off…Why do Newkirk and Carter have to be what they are? I know we shouldn't have gotten angry at them, and I probably shouldn't have fainted, when we found out their secrets, but how can we possibly tell them of our own? And what about mon Colonel?" He knew that he didn't want to admit it, so very quietly, almost inaudibly, he whispered into Kinch's ear. "Mon ami, I am scared."

Kinch allowed himself to sigh. He knew that since Hogan wasn't around, he would have to take his position as the leader of their team—at least, what team there was left. He would _never_ tell LeBeau that he also felt the same apprehension. "If we don't at least try with them, I'll never be able to forgive myself…and I know that you feel the same way. Besides, if the Colonel can accept them the way that they are, I don't see why he wouldn't be able to accept us as well. That is, if he ever found out about us."

"Oui, I do. I know—the Colonel has usually been very understanding." With that, LeBeau and Kinch headed out of the tunnels and back into their barracks, as they began to pack their field packs with the necessary essentials that they needed for the rescue mission that lay ahead. Quickly and silently, they made their way out of the tunnels, making sure to avoid the searchlights and the German patrols that always surrounded their camp. Of course, how could they know that Klink had several hours head start on them? They knew that morning roll call was quickly approaching, and that they wouldn't be missed, since they were supposed to still be at their painting job. However, what they didn't know was that Klink had told his replacing officer that not only were they at Kommandant's Brown Stalag, but that he had left him with specific instructions not to telephone the Kommandant to ask about their progress. Klink knew that his replacement had always seemed like the type to follow his instructions to the letter, so he hoped that this would once again be the case.

…

Back inside their cell, Newkirk and Carter had managed to get only a couple hours of restless sleep, constantly moving about in their cell, trying to make themselves comfortable on the hard bench. At the same time, they knew that comfort was the least of their worries. Even though they had only been in their cell for one day, they knew that their nerves were making it seem more like four or five. They were both hungry, and they knew it. Also, just like Newkirk had informed their commanding officer, they noticed that they both had headaches. They could feel the horrific pressure building up on the top of their heads, instead of the typical foreheads, where headaches are normally found. At the time they didn't know which hurt the most—their hunger for the necessary substance, or the pain that the headaches were bringing to them.

Finally, they had both managed to fall asleep, but it seemed that Newkirk had awoken almost as quickly. Carter awoke next, opening one sleepy eye since he had Newkirk groaning, still trying to bend the bars of their cell open. Though he didn't mean to, he could hear Newkirk's thoughts, and the fact that he was thinking British expletives that the Sergeant didn't know the meaning of, or had even heard before.

_You should try to save your strength, _Carter thought to his friend. _It won't do any good for you to run out of energy before we can be rescued._

_I still 'ave plenty of energy left in me,_ Newkirk replied. _We can always get some more blood once we get back to our camp—but first we need to get out of this ruddy place._

_You know that Eagle will find us—he's always been pretty good at picking up scents._ Suddenly, another idea popped into the Sergeant's head, which he managed to hide from Newkirk. _If that's the case, then why hasn't Klink ever found out that we can easily slip into and out of his Stalag? Wouldn't he have been able to pick up one of our scents during one of his runs?_ Carter managed to push that thought to the back of his mind—he had bigger, more important things to worry about.

Suddenly, both men heard what sounded like a stifled yawn coming from the cell that was situated next to theirs. Newkirk stopped what he was doing, and turned to face the sound.

"Good morning," both men heard their commanding officer wish them. "Or, at least whatever is 'good' about our situation….So, Kinch and LeBeau should be on their way here right now, correct?"

"Yes sir, it's just like we told you last night," Newkirk and Carter lied to their commanding officer. Of course, they had no way of knowing that they _weren't_ lying.

Hogan sat in silence for a couple of seconds. He didn't want to express his thoughts to them, since he knew that they probably had their own worries to think about. Still, he couldn't help but wonder if they were thinking the same thing that he was. _What if they don't make it in time?_ The Colonel thought to himself. _What if all they find in the cell next to mine are two piles of dust?_ Before he had time to think about the answers to his questions, he made himself push the thoughts to the back of his mind. _I'm _not _going to let myself think that way_ he told himself with fierce resolution. _No way in bloody 'ell!_ Hogan allowed a small, ironic smile to form as he realized that he had just told himself one of Newkirk's favorite expressions.

As the day wore on, Hogan found himself packing back and forth in his cell, both for lack of something to do and to try to come up with a plan for getting out of his prison. Sitting in their own cell, Carter had begun to fidget. He didn't want his Colonel to know that something was wrong with him, though he suspected that Newkirk knew. The Sergeant knew that his nerves weren't helping the situation, but with nothing else to do, he found that it was increasingly hard to concentrate on anything else. He had been sitting a foot away from Newkirk, rubbing his legs. Suddenly, Newkirk inched closer to him until he was right next to him, and Carter surprised himself as he allowed his head to rest on Newkirk's shoulder. Bringing his legs up to his chest so that he could still rub them, he didn't resist Newkirk's friendly gesture of wrapping his arm around him and bringing his hand up on Carter's shoulder. Looking into his best friend's eyes, he knew that Newkirk understood what was wrong with him. _I don't want the Colonel to know—he has enough things to worry about right now. But the headache's getting worse, and now my legs are starting to cramp up._

_I know, _Newkirk silently replied. _I know we're not supposed to—stealing our blood 'as always been the 'umane thing to do. But I swear that the first thing I'm going to do when I get out of 'ere is turn Faust into me personal midnight snack._

_The Colonel won't approve of that, _Carter told his friend, turning his head to face Newkirk's.

Suddenly, Newkirk's eyes flashed green. _The Gov'nor be damned! What the bloody 'ell does _'e _know about this 'unger? 'E's lucky I don't turn _'im _into me snack!_ Suddenly, Newkirk withdraw his hand and moved away from Carter. Bringing his knees up to his chest, he found himself slowly rocking back and forth, and allowed a single tear to fall down his face. _I didn't mean that—you _know _I didn't mean that_ Newkirk thought to his friend. _I would _never _'urt the Colonel, no matter 'ow 'ungry I was…But these nerves of mine, making it seem like we've been in 'ere a lot longer than we really 'ave._

"I wish that I had some aspirin for you." The voice startled both Newkirk and Carter, whose full attention turned to face the dividing wall that was in front of them.

"You know, sir?" they asked at the same time, not bothering to hide their surprise.

"You mean, that you both have headaches? Yes, I know. I may not be able to see your faces, but I've known you two long enough to know how you're feeling," Hogan replied to them.

Sighing, they decided to tell their commanding officer what else they were feeling. "Carter 'ere 'as leg cramps, and I'm feeling a bit…irritable meself," Newkirk replied. He didn't need to emphasize what "irritable" meant, and he knew that he would never tell him the shameful thought that had crossed his mind. He also didn't need his Colonel knowing how badly he wanted, almost needed, to feel his commanding officer's blood rushing throughout his veins, filling his body with satisfaction from his head to his toes. _The Gov'nor will never understand 'ow well, 'ow complete and whole the blood makes us feel. 'E knows that we need it to live, but not about the euphoric, almost narcotic-like feeling that it gives us by releasing the dopamine. 'Opefully 'e never will._

Even though he didn't mean to, Newkirk found himself thinking back to his past, about what had happened after the Battle of Bunker Hill. Sometimes he almost hated how much of a coward he had been regarding his own mortality, how much he couldn't face the thought of no longer existing on the planet. The words that he had once told his commanding officer were ringing in his ears, as if he had just spoken them: "_E said that 'e 'ad a way to make me feel better. I decided to listen to 'im_." _Maybe the Colonel was right when 'e called me a "monster"- nobody forced this upon me; I chose it completely of me own will._ Looking at Carter, he knew that the Sergeant's past had been different. _Andrew never really wanted this, and sometimes I think that 'e still doesn't. Why did that doctor 'ave to do what 'e did?_

Turning to face his friend, Carter thought _What? Would you rather have me dead?_

_Andrew, would you mind staying out of me mind for once? And you know that isn't true _Newkirk thought in an annoyed fashion.

_Sorry—I didn't mean to invade your privacy_ Carter replied, almost dejectedly.

_No, it's me fault. Just being rather irritable again, I suppose._ Both men sighed at the same time. Newkirk knew that Carter still didn't completely understand why anybody would _purposely_ want to change into a vampire, even if they were dying. Still, he was glad that his friend had managed to look past those feelings.

Carter turned to face his friend again. _You know that you're not a monster. Ever since you were changed, you always told me how much you had worked at making amends for the regret and guilt that you felt about making your choice….And you have. We're all doing a lot of good in this war, I mean, saving all those downed fliers and keeping the world safe for democracy and freedom and all. Besides, _Carter added, flashing his friend a fang-filled smile y_ou taught this confused vampire how to control his own desire. You know that I'll always be thankful for that._

Newkirk had to allow himself a small chuckle. _Yeah, I remember when you first came 'ere_, the corporal said, referring to Stalag 13. _Blimey, sometimes I wonder 'ow you didn't get yourself staked during those years between your changing and arriving._

_Gee, thanks_ Carter replied, giving his friend an annoyed, slightly hurt look.

_It's true, you know. You were looking at pretty much every single neck that you could find, or when you tried looking away you were noticing their wrists….You still got that bracelet that I made you?_

Carter nodded, rolling up his sleeve to reveal the wooden bracelet that he always wore. He smiled as he remembered Newkirk making it for him during a shop class that the men had once participated in, as part of their recreation. Carter found himself looking at the wooden beads that Newkirk had purposely engraved for him, and had then tied around a piece of string. There were four beads on the bracelet, and each one bore a different word: Control, Respect, Patience and Consequence. _I never take it off_ he thought, as he held the bracelet in his other hand and turned it so that he could examine all four beads_._ _I remember when you made this for me._ _Control- learning how to control my desire for the necessary blood. Respect- having respect for all human life around me, and never hurting an innocent person. Patience- knowing that no matter how hungry I sometimes found myself, I would always be able to get blood eventually. And finally Consequence- knowing what would very well happen if I ever lost control of myself._

The two men had been thinking about their pasts so much, that they never noticed that the hours had rapidly been passing by. They could only imagine what Hogan must be feeling, knowing that he would probably be worried about them. _It's always been my job to protect my men, and it still is. It's not right that they should have to suffer like this—how I hate that Faust!_ Hogan thought to himself. Suddenly, he noticed that his stomach was growling, and he realized that he had been so preoccupied with worrying about his men and trying to come up with a way to get out of their cells that he hadn't paid much attention to the fact that he hadn't eaten a single bite all day. Looking down at his watch, he noticed that it was 6:00 pm. _Speak of the devil_ Hogan told himself when Faust suddenly appeared next to his cell.

"Dinner is served," Faust _sweetly_ told him, and he bent down to leave a plate of food inside Hogan's cell. Hogan quickly got up, both to get the plate of food and wanting nothing more than to possibly strangle the living daylights out of the Gestapo agent for what he was doing to his men. However, before Hogan could even stand up Faust moved next to Newkirk's and Carter's cell, and he drew two blood bags out from inside his coat. "You two are _sure_ that you don't want this? After all, the Colonel accepted his dinner- why don't you two?" Faust asked, smiling at them sinisterly. He didn't know that upon hearing those words, Hogan, who had sat down again, had set the plate back down next to him.

"Because we know your game," Carter and Newkirk replied at the same time. "You gave the Colonel just enough food to keep him from dying, but since you're more concerned about the Angels, you're hoping to starve the truth out of us. We're telling you what we said before—you can sod off." Even though they had both just said those words, they couldn't help but stare at the blood bags with a previously unknown level of desire.

"Fine! Stick with your decision. I know that sooner or later you'll tell me everything that you know—you won't be able to help yourselves or your desire," Faust replied. With that, he turned around and left the same way that he had come.

…

By this time, Eagle had found that he was far away from Hammelburg, and that he was traveling through country that was more open, and less populated with trees. Earlier in the day he had seen a sign that let him know he was slinking around Greßthal's border, and now that night was falling, he was quickly approaching the outskirts of Obbach (1). Looking up at the darkened sky, Klink saw that the moon had now changed into its waxing gibbous phase, and he could only hope that he could find Newkirk, Carter, and Hogan before the full moon reared its ugly head. So far he had managed to keep Eagle in check, but he still found himself thinking about what had happened after Hochstetter had left, and he could only pray and hope that he would manage to still keep control during that tumultuous time period. He was hopeful that he would find them in time, since earlier in the day he had managed to pick up Carter's scent as well.

As Klink drew closer to Obbach, Eagle suddenly noticed what appeared to be a plump, fat rabbit out of the corner of his left eye. Eagle licked his chops, and he began salivating over the delicious feast that he knew lay in front of him. Suddenly and without warning, Eagle's red eyes shone and he began to give chase, which he did for a couple of seconds. _Stop!_ Klink told his other half, fighting to regain control of the hungry beast. He was pleased that Eagle listened to him, and as soon as he had started running allowed himself to be stopped. By this time, Klink saw he was right outside the city's border, and was glad that nobody seemed to be in sight.

_There are other ways to catch a rabbit, other than actually _catching_ one _Klink thought to both himself and his other half. Still, he couldn't completely blame Eagle for what had just happened. He had been traveling throughout the entire previous night and day, and he had barely stopped in Greßthal for a quick bite. _This town looks to be as good as any other to stop and look for a restaurant and a hotel._ Slowly and silently, Eagle slipped into town, looking for an ideal deserted alleyway. Finding what he was looking for, Eagle walked in, and a couple of minutes later, Klink walked out. Scanning the area, Klink found what seemed to be an inviting restaurant. He walked in, sat down, and waited for the waitress to show up.

"What will," the waitress scanned the insignia on his uniform, "the Colonel have for dinner tonight?"

Looking up at the young blond with his customary smile, Klink asked her, "Does this establishment serve rabbit?"

Klink was slightly taken aback as the waitress looked at him with an odd expression. "Rabbit? What are you, a wolf?" Noticing Klink's expression at her words, she smiled and replied, "I say that to all the men who ask for our house special. So, ja, we have rabbit." With that, she turned away to fulfill the Kommandant's order.

Still, Klink couldn't help but allow himself to give a small, ironic smile. _I'm more a wolf than you'll ever know_ he thought to himself. After the waitress had reappeared with his dinner, Klink was pleased that both sides of himself enjoyed the meal that he was partaking of.

…

Unbeknownst to any of the other men, two more wolves were rapidly approaching the outskirts of Greßthal. They were relieved that there was a barn outside of the town limits, and that it appeared to be abandoned, since it looked like it had recently been bombed, though it still appeared quite structurally sound. Even though they didn't want to stop for the night, knowing the mission that lay ahead for them, they knew that it would be of no use to tire themselves out before their objective was completed. Unwillingly, the smaller Loup followed the larger, darker-furred Golden into the barn, after they had scented that nobody was inside it. After both Golden and Loup had slipped out from under their packs that they had been wearing, the two wolves changed back into their human form. They removed their clothes from inside the pack, and quickly began getting dressed.

"I just hope that mon Colonel never finds out about our own secret," LeBeau told Kinch, as the two men began looking around for some firewood. They knew that the night would be cold, so they didn't like the fact that no kindling was to be found.

"You mean, that the Colonel is the only real human on our team, leading a pack of supernatural creatures? Not a chance," Kinch replied with his customary smile. "The Colonel may be understanding, but he would have a stroke if he knew the truth."

"Oui, I suppose you are correct. Still, I wonder if mon Colonel ever thought about why I get along so well with the dogs in camp, or that you have enough strength to be a champion boxer?"

"I wouldn't be so concerned about that—he probably just think it's one of our quirks," Kinch reassuringly told LeBeau, stopping his search to place a hand on top of the corporal's shoulder. "But, you know what they say—_There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy_. Shakespeare."

LeBeau allowed a small smile to form. He, too, was well aware of that famous line from Hamlet, and he had to agree with his then-commanding officer that their secret was safe.

After they had searched the barn up and down, including the surrounding area, they were disappointed that all they had found was a small bundle of sticks, which was not nearly enough to keep them warm throughout the night. "It's going to be too cold tonight for a human," Kinch informed his friend. "But you know that our fur will keep us warm." He was glad to see that LeBeau nodded at his friend's assessment, and quickly began undressing, while Kinch went into another room to do the same. Even though they both let out simultaneous screams, they had shifted around each other enough times to know that the other wasn't in any danger, but was experiencing the horrific pain of their transformation. As Golden reappeared from the other room, he walked up to Loup and gave him a gentle, friendly nudge with his muzzle. Loup circled around a couple of times before laying down, and Golden did the same thing, placing his body next to Loup's with his head resting on the smaller one, so that they could share their warmth. Even though they were both worried about the missing men, they found that sleep came easily after their long journey.

…

The next day was much as the previous one had been. Kinch, LeBeau and Klink continued their two separate searches, each not knowing that the other party was doing the exact same thing. Back in their cells, Newkirk couldn't help but rub his arms, as the muscle cramps had started there.

_It's been three days now Peter_ Carter thought to his friend, who was sitting right next to him. _Another four days and we're…_

_Don't you bloody well say it!_ Newkirk silently replied. This time, he knew that it wasn't completely his hunger that was making him irritable—he truly didn't want Carter to finish with the phrase _piles of dust._

Suddenly, Carter doubled over in pain, wincing as he held onto his stomach with both hands. Newkirk couldn't help but gasp, as he realized that the stomach cramps had begun. _No bloody wonder_ he thought to himself. He knew that it was nighttime, and that day Faust had appeared not once or even twice, but three times with more blood bags. Each time he had taunted them, making a spectacular show of drinking the substance in front of the men, while letting them know that in the cell next to theirs, their Colonel was enjoying his own meal. Even though Hogan wanted to show his solidarity with his men, he knew that it wouldn't help anybody if he lost strength, so he begrudgingly ate whatever Faust gave him.

Five minutes after Carter's stomach cramps had begun, they had disappeared as quickly as they had come. Looking at his friend's worried green eyes, he thought _I don't know how much more of this I can take._

_I know—believe me, I know. But Eagle should be 'ere soon—just give 'im another day or two, I'm sure of it._ Newkirk threw his hand over Carter's shoulders, and was slightly hurt when Carter pushed him away.

"Faust!" Carter shouted for the Sergeant. Almost as soon as his name had been called, the Gestapo agent appeared with some blood.

"Are you ready to divulge your secrets?" the Sergeant asked of him, devilishly smiling.

Carter bowed his head. Almost inaudibly, he whispered, "…Yes. Yes, I'll tell you everything that you want to know."

At the same time, Newkirk and Hogan both gasped, having heard what Carter had said. "Carter, no!" the Sergeant heard his commanding officer yell. "Don't you dare talk—you can't!"

Carter put on a display of emotion, crying as he replied, "I'm so very sorry—but I'm too hungry. I _need_ the nourishment that the blood will provide for me!"

Faust smiled as he pulled the key to the cell door out of his coat pocket, and began to open it. He knew that the young Sergeant might be more willing to divulge his secrets once he was away from the other two men, so he had planned to interrogate him in a separate room.

Carter stood up, and began walking to the cell door, though he was surprised that Newkirk didn't try to stop him. As soon as the door was open, both men rushed at Faust, hoping to overpower him. Suddenly, Faust knew what they were doing and shut the door on them, storming away.

Hogan watched as the Sergeant walked off angrily. "You two had this planned, didn't you?"

"Of course, sir," Carter said. Then, he added at the same time as Newkirk, "You didn't _really_ think we'd talk, did you?"

"No," Hogan replied. He knew that his men had been interrogated before, and that they had never managed to give away any information that they shouldn't. Still, a nagging little voice in his head told him _But that was when they were being tried as men—not as vampires._ It was then that Hogan began formulating his own plan—a plan that might possibly change everything.

(1) Towns courtesy of Google Maps


	14. Chapter 14

AN: This author thanks ColHogan for the suggestion/feedback regarding the end of this chapter.

Chapter Fourteen: Giving and Taking

That night, Hogan didn't get much sleep as he continued to work on his plan. He also realized a truth that he had previously missed—this was only the second time recently that Newkirk and Carter had been dying. _I don't understand why they wouldn't have told me_ he thought to himself. Still, he remembered how Newkirk had acted before the three of them had made their way to Colonel Magerlein's house that first night. _That small outburst of his—he blamed it on the fact that I was the first human who he had shared his secret with. But, he also told me that he and Carter had been out of blood for four days. I still don't like what they did to Colonel Magerlein—attacking him in their fashion. _Sighing, he allowed himself to finish his thought. _But they probably knew that they would be able to get what they needed from him that night, so I don't know if I can completely blame them now._

Hogan stood up and began pacing back and forth in his cell, before he sat back down again. The hallway was always lit, so the fact that it was night, as he knew by checking his watch, didn't keep him from being able to see. Slowly, he began rolling up his shirt sleeves. _If Faust is a recently changed vampire, he might not know everything that comes along with being one, thank goodness….Maybe Newkirk and Carter are afraid of hurting me? _Hogan sighed again, as he continued his thoughts. Suddenly he once again got up from his bench, but instead of pacing, went to stand by the cell door. He knew that his, and Carter's and Newkirk's cells, were adjoining, and that if Faust was able to put a plate of food through his cell bars, then it would be wide enough for him to place his arm through. Hogan positioned himself in the corner where the wall met the cell door as close as he could, and he began to move his arm out through the bars and around the wall. _Please don't let this wall be very thick_ he thought to himself. As he continued moving his arm, he let out an inaudible sigh as he could feel his hand touch the first bar to his men's cell, and another sigh as he found that he could stick his hand and his wrist inside. Pulling his arm back inside his cell, he knew what he had to do as he sat back on his bench.

Since his shirt sleeves were still rolled up, he turned his arms around so that he could study his wrists. His doctors had always told him that he had good blood, and that as far as they could tell, were never lacking for any important nutrients. _I may not understand everything, but I don't have to. As their commanding officer, as well as their friend, it's my job to take care of them—and the simple truth of the matter is that I have what they need._ It was only then that Hogan allowed himself to fall asleep, since he decided to wait until after his men had woken up to feed them.

…

The fourth day started much the same as the three previous ones had. By this time, Eagle had found his way to Sennfeld (1), where both sides of himself had once again indulged his appetite for rabbit as the previous night's dinner. Klink had decided to give into this reasonable demand, even though he was more in the mood for a sandwich—especially since he knew that he didn't need to lose control over Eagle once the full moon appeared in the night sky. He knew that he was close to finding the missing men, since he had managed to pick up Newkirk's scent right before he had entered Sennfeld. As soon as Klink had left the inn where he had spent the previous night, he walked until he found another deserted alleyway. He quickly began undressing and stuffed his uniform inside his field pack to make yet another transformation. He found that the more he shifted the easier it had been to control his other side, yet the pain had and never would subside. Suddenly, before Eagle could walk out of the alleyway, with his pack securely wrapped over his back, he picked up two more scents—scents that he was well familiar with. _I'm glad that they're safe—I was worried that Faust might have done something terrible to them, but now I see that those fears were unfounded. I'm also glad that they're out looking for Colonel Hogan and the others. _Suddenly, a slight worry crossed his mind _Of course, if LeBeau and Kinch knew that I knew they were out searching, my other cover might be blown. I'm going to have to be extra-careful that I avoid crossing their paths._

…

Back inside their cell, Newkirk and Carter had awoken to face the new day. This time they found that their symptoms had been reversed, as Carter found himself feeling irritable, while the stomach cramps had started for Newkirk.

Suddenly, Carter jumped up from his bench and banged his fists against the cell bars. "Damn that Faust!" he exclaimed, and the sudden shouting jostled Hogan out of his sleep. The sergeant began pacing back and forth, not bothering to hide his anger. Looking over at Newkirk, he stopped and sat back down next to his friend as he saw that Newkirk had suddenly started slightly moaning as he held onto his stomach with both hands. "It's gonna be OK- we're gonna get out of here," Carter told the corporal, drawing Newkirk protectively against him with one arm as he fought to hold back his angry tears.

Looking at Carter, Newkirk told him, "I wish I had me cigarettes."

"I know—so do I," Carter replied.

"But Carter, you don't smoke. At least, I've never seen you" both men heard their commanding officer inform them. "But thanks for waking me." At the same time, Hogan realized that he hadn't seen Newkirk smoke any of his cigarettes after both men had told him what they were. _I wonder if there's a special connection between vampires and cigarettes?_

"Sorry sir, didn't mean to get irritable like that and wake you….Of course, you didn't know that I drank blood until we told you, and then went to Colonel Magerlein's house either." Quietly he added, "Besides, I sorta like my 'clean guy' image."

Newkirk then spoke up, "You see sir, smoking 'elps to take the edge off our desire for blood. It's not a substitute—nothing is—but it works when we can't get our 'ands on any of the substance. Sure, sometimes it's just something to do with me 'ands when I'm bored or restless, but I mostly only smoke because of that."

Hogan nodded, realizing that the corporal's statement made some sense. Still, he couldn't see his sergeant smoking, but he realized that not too long ago he couldn't see Carter drinking blood either. _It's a strange world we live in_ he thought to himself.

Suddenly, Hogan began to put his plan into action. Jumping up from his bench, he approached his cell door corner. Looking to his right and then to his left, he was relieved that Faust wasn't in sight. Slowly, he began to ask of his men, "Is it possible for a vampire to feed on a human without changing him?"

The question startled them, since they suspected what Hogan wanted to do for them. "Only if the vampire doesn't take too much," they replied at the same time. Then, before they could react, Hogan began putting his plan into action. Their eyes grew wide as they saw Hogan's hand and wrist make its way into their cell.

"We're not feeding on you sir!" they exclaimed at the same time, slightly horrified at what their commanding officer wanted to do for them. "It's not right, and we know that you're weak enough as it is." At the same time, they could only stare at Hogan's wrist with an intense, burning level of desire, and they got up from their bench and began to make their way to his exposed hand as though hypnotized by the sight that lay before them.

Hogan allowed himself to sigh. "I won't deny that Faust is anywhere near the chef that LeBeau is, and I'm looking forward to his cooking when we get out of here. But the truth of the matter is that you're both quickly dying—don't try denying it. It always has, and it always will be, my job to watch out for you two…I'm not making it an order, but _please_ let me do this for you." Hogan held his breath, as he waited for their answer.

From inside his cell, Hogan allowed himself to breathe as he heard their reply. "You're going to 'ave to tell us when you start feeling too faint or light-headed—any more blood loss and you'll be changed," Newkirk informed his commanding officer. Hogan nodded to himself.

_I want you to go first, _Newkirk thought to his friend, as his green eyes met Carter's. _As a younger vampire I know that you're more 'ungry than I am. _He was glad that his friend didn't try to argue with him, but simply nodded. Newkirk saw Carter's fangs come out, and he held onto Hogan's hand. Slowly he bent over his commanding officer's wrist, and his eyes quickly searched for an ideal vein or two.

Suddenly, Hogan noticed what felt like four needles forcefully tearing into his flesh and his veins. It took everything he had for him not to scream but instead to bite his tongue, as the pain was worse than he had imagined. He could feel the blood being drawn from him as one of his men worked on his wrist, sucking it as though through a straw with all of his might. He noticed a brief intermission, before the act was repeated. Finally, when he began feeling a bit woozy, he had to call out, "I need you to stop."

Newkirk immediately pulled his fangs out of Hogan's wrist and let it fall before he backed away, his eyes still green and a small blood smear on his lower lip. Wiping it away, he sat down next to Carter, and both men's eyes returned to their normal color. In his own cell, Hogan drew his arm back to him, and he looked down at his wrist and the four closely located puncture marks while he tore off his shirt sleeve to use as a makeshift bandage to prevent any more blood loss. Even though he was feeling slightly faint and had to carefully make his way back to his bench, he allowed himself to smile, knowing that he had given his men a precious, life-saving gift.

"Thank you sir, for The Gift—we're feeling much better now," Hogan heard his men inform them. "We still have headaches, but our irritability and cramps are gone." They quickly added, "Are you feeling alright?"

"I'm a bit lightheaded, but you haven't changed me," Hogan replied, giving his customary smile. Quizzically he asked them, "But what do you mean by The Gift?"

"As long as we live, your blood will always flow through our veins. We know we told you that vampires can be loyal, but because of your sacrifice that loyalty has grown tenfold," they informed their commanding officer at the same time. Slyly, they added, "Well, if that's even possible."

Hogan nodded. He was about to give one of his sarcastic replies—"Just don't follow me around like lost puppies after the war,"—before he thought better of it.

Newkirk and Carter sat in silence with their eyes closed for several minutes, allowing the blood to work its way through their system. They could feel it rushing through their body, through all of their veins, but that it was especially concentrated in their heads, legs and stomachs. Even though they knew that they were still Faust's prisoners, they let out contented, inaudible sighs as their bodies felt the blood's euphoric sensation. They knew that they still weren't feeling one hundred percent, but they also realized that they would _never_ take more than their commanding officer was capable of giving of himself. _Well, whole, and complete indeed_ they both thought to themselves at the same time.

After thirty minutes had passed and their bodies' dopamine levels had long since returned to their equilibrium points, Carter found that an earlier doubt had begun to surface again. Turning to face his friend, he asked of him _There's still one thing that I don't understand. If Eagle has been able to pick up our scents and find us, then why hasn't he found out that we, along with the Colonel and the others, been able to find out that we can slip into and out of camp? Wouldn't he have been able to pick up on our scents during one of his runs?_

Newkirk turned to face his friend, with a slight look of surprise registering on his face. _I wouldn't be so concerned about that—not after what Klink's doing for us._

Carter could only look at his friend quizzically. _What do you mean, what he's doing for us? I don't understand._

It was then that Newkirk's slight expression grew into an incredulous one. _You really don't know, do you? Blimey—and all this time I thought you knew. Of course, I'm not about to tell the Gov'nor, and Klink doesn't even know that we know. When I read 'is mind, knowing that 'e was a werewolf wasn't the only thing I picked up on._

Carter's expression then changed into one of annoyance. _Well, are you going to tell me what you know or not?_

_Well, I 'ad me doubts at first- 'e certainly puts on a good act, pretending not to know anything. Of course, all this time 'e's been pretending that 'e 'asn't been a werewolf either. That's 'ow I know that we'll never need to make a choice between watching out for our Kommandant and protecting the Gov'nor. _It was then that Newkirk told Carter about Klink's _other_ hidden side.

_But that's impossible!_ Carter thought to his friend. _He can't be!_

_I know—those were me exact thoughts at first, too. But being a werewolf does give 'im certain advantages and abilities—ones that even we don't possess. Besides, that's exactly what we thought at first when we learned that Kinch and LeBeau were werewolves….You know, sometimes I feel that our entire life 'ere is nothing more than a game of "Who Knows What?"_

_Well, it's a good thing we're all on the same side then, _Carter replied to his friend.

Sighing, they thought about what they knew. They knew that as werewolves, Kinch and LeBeau sometimes felt an irresistible urge to run in the forest that surrounded their Stalag, and to give into their other side. They figured that it gave Hogan's two other men the same euphoric feeling that drinking blood gave to them. Newkirk also knew that he hadn't been lying when he had told LeBeau that he had never read his mind, as it was indeed the truth. Instead, Carter and Newkirk had been returning from the hospital with their blood bags one evening, when they had seen Kinch and LeBeau shift into their wolf form by the tree stump that connected to the hidden tunnel. Fortunately, they had been standing downwind at the time, and Kinch and LeBeau had been unable to pick up their scent, so they knew that Kinch and LeBeau had been showing real surprise when they found out that Hogan's two other men were vampires. _It's a good thing that the scent of death, of decomposition disappears extremely quickly_ they thought to themselves.

They also knew that Klink had sometimes expressed his concern about being surrounded by two other werewolves in his Stalag, and he had a very strong suspicion that Kinch and LeBeau were also shape shifters. At the same time, Carter and Newkirk knew that Hogan's two other men felt the same way—that they knew what Klink was. _Of course, it didn't help that they probably heard Klink turn into Eagle after Hochstetter had left his office_ they thought at the same time. They knew that Kinch and LeBeau would never tell Hogan about Klink, however, because doing that would mean that they would have to reveal themselves as well. Carter and Newkirk had figured that they had managed to show surprise at why Carter and Newkirk had to leave his quarters suddenly that day, even though they knew what had happened. _They probably felt relieved that we were handling the situation._ They also knew that Golden and Loup wanted nothing to do with Eagle, since Klink was, after all, their Kommandant and on the opposite side in this war. _Maybe they wonder how we can be so caring for him?_ they asked themselves. _Still, they probably realize that Klink is harmless enough, even if they also would have been able to pick up on his scent during their own runs. Even though they may not know about his _other _hidden side, they would know that Klink would never be able to tell Hochstetter or Burkhalter that he could pick up on their scents, without revealing to them that he was a werewolf—and he doesn't have any other proof of their espionage activities. In a way, they're lucky. They've always been able to control their condition, but the only way that's possible is if their condition is hereditary, unlike Klink's_ they thought to themselves. Finally, they knew that their commanding officer was largely ignorant of the entire affair.

Newkirk then turned back to Carter. _But I only told you about Klink so that you wouldn't worry. You 'ave to _promise _that you'll never tell the Colonel what I informed you of….At least not until after the war._

_Peter, please. I know that I sometimes have trouble keeping my mouth shut, but we all have our secrets. Unlike telling the Colonel that we're vampires, I _know _how to stay quiet on this._ Carter saw that Newkirk responded with a contented sigh, knowing that the sergeant would actually be able to keep Klink's other secret safe. Nimrod's identity would not be known beyond the two of them.

…

Afternoon had fallen on the fourth day, as Loup and Golden had managed to pick up Newkirk's scent after they had passed the town of Niederwerm (1). They had picked up Hogan's scent as soon as they had regained consciousness from the knockout gas, but even if Kinch and LeBeau hadn't been hesitant to use their other side, they knew that they would have to return to their Stalag regardless in order to pack their field packs for their journey. Since they had no way of knowing that their commanding officer had earlier fed Newkirk and Carter, they could only hope that they could find their men in time before Faust did something terrible to them.

Suddenly, the two wolves picked up on another scent, and they immediately realized who it belonged to. _I wonder what Eagle's doing all the way out here?_ Golden thought to himself. _He must be trying to find the Colonel and the others._ Loup, who had been impulsively leading the way, suddenly turned his head to face the wolf behind him. Golden saw in Loup's expression and his still-sniffing nostrils that he had picked up on the same scent, and the same thought had crossed his mind. They both knew that they had to be extra-careful that Eagle didn't pick up on their scent, because they didn't need Klink knowing that they had managed to slip away from everybody. They especially didn't need Klink knowing that they could do that all along, as it would reveal the true identity of Papa Bear.

…

As night fell, Faust suddenly reappeared to check on his prisoners, hoping that this time Carter and Newkirk would be more willing to talk. He showed up outside Hogan's cell with his customary sinister smile, and bent down to place the plate of food inside the Colonel's cell. Upon seeing Faust outside his cell, Hogan had immediately turned his body away without trying to appear suspicious, hoping to shield his bandaged left arm from the Gestapo agent. However, Hogan reacted a split second too late. As Faust stood back up again, he noticed that Hogan's left shirt sleeve was missing, which didn't concern him. However, the sergeant made his way over to Carter's and Newkirk's cell, expecting to see two very weak vampires.

"You know that you two will be dead shortly if you don't talk," Faust sinisterly informed them. "Of course, I…" Faust stopped himself, as he noticed that Newkirk and Carter appeared to have more energy than they had yesterday. It was then that the truth dawned upon him.

_I didn't think it was possible—I had always heard that a human would immediately be killed as soon as a vampire laid fang to him. But now,_ Faust began his mental calculations, _I see that this isn't the case._ Turning away from their cell, the sergeant walked back to Hogan's, and quickly opened and then closed it.

Carter could only look at Newkirk with a half-quizzical, half-fearful look as he had heard Faust open Hogan's cell. _What do you think Faust is doing to the Colonel?_

_I'm not sure,_ Newkirk replied with a small degree of worry. _But 'e better not 'urt the Colonel, especially not in a vampiric fashion—maybe just try to make 'im talk._

Faust quickly sat down next to Hogan, and turned his head to face the Colonel. "I think we need to have a little talk," the Gestapo agent quietly began.

"About what? All you'll get out of me is name, rank, and serial number," Hogan calmly informed his capturer.

"Who needs that sort of information?" Suddenly, the sergeant roughly reached over and picked up Hogan's left arm, and began to untie his shirt sleeve. "So it is true—you have fed your men. Perhaps there is more to go around?" Hogan could only stare at Faust, completely horrified as he saw the sergeant's eyes turn green and his upper canines turn into fangs.

"You get away from me!" Newkirk and Carter heard their commanding officer scream. Immediately they rushed up and to their cell door, hoping that they had enough strength to bend open the cell bars. Even Carter found himself mentally cursing as he realized that they still wouldn't budge.

"Colonel! Gov'nor! Answer us!" they shouted at the same time. They both could sense what was happening, and they could feel their faces becoming flushed. _Not that. Anything but that!_ they thought to themselves at the same time.

It was over in a matter of minutes. Suddenly, Faust reappeared next to their cell, blood smearing his mouth and chin. "Do you see? _This_ is what happens when you don't talk!" the sergeant angrily informed them.

"You bloody bastard!" Newkirk shouted at Faust. Turning his head slightly, he could see that Carter was equally furious. "I swear I'll kill you meself after I get out of 'ere!"

"You two are not going anywhere anytime soon. But you're right about one thing—bloody is correct." With that, Faust turned and walked off in the same direction that he had come from.

"Colonel, answer us! Are you alright?" They both couldn't believe what had just happened. They couldn't believe that Faust had just fed on their Colonel. Suddenly, Newkirk's warning to his commanding officer came back, ringing strongly in his head. _Any more blood loss and you'll be changed._ They waited—but there was no reply from their commanding officer.

Suddenly, they heard Hogan gasp. "I'm alright," they could hear him weakly respond.

They quickly asked him the thought that was on their mind. "Did he change you?"

"No, he…didn't. He only…hurt me," Hogan truthfully told his men. "I'll be…alright."

Newkirk and Carter let out small sighs, relieved that Faust hadn't changed Hogan into a vampire. Inside his cell, Hogan lay slumped against his wall, feeling weak after the sergeant had attacked him. _I hate that…Gestapo agent, _he weakly thought to himself. He could only hope that he would have enough strength the following day to help him, along with his men, escape from the clutches of what he now knew to be the true monster in his life.

(1) Towns courtesy of Google Maps


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen: Freedom at What Cost?

As the hours passed during the night, Hogan found himself fighting with all of his strength to cling to life. He knew that he hadn't been changed, but the additional blood loss that had been caused by Faust's attack, after he had fed his men, didn't help him. _Please don't let me die_ he prayed. _I don't want to leave my men—they need their commanding officer, they need their Papa Bear._ Suddenly, his mind flashed back to the nightmare that he had experienced after he, along with Carter and Newkirk, had made their way to Colonel Magerlein's house. He knew that he still didn't want to be changed into a vampire. _People live, and then people meet their Maker, they meet God_ he thought to himself. _That's the way of the world._ His mind wandered over to his men that were in the adjoining cell. _I can't imagine how hard it must be for Carter and Newkirk—losing their parents, losing their human friends. It's a good thing that they have each other, as well as Anne, or eternity would be awfully lonely._

When Hogan awoke, he found that he still wasn't feeling his best. There was a great pounding in his head, and he desperately wished that he had some aspirin. He wasn't even sure if he had slept, or if he had passed out during the night. Strangely, other than the headache, he found that he was feeling much better. _Thank you God—thank you for not letting me die during the night_ he silently prayed.

"We're glad that you're alright sir," Hogan heard his men inform him at the same time.

Hogan was slightly startled, as he didn't even remember himself yawning. "How do you know that I'm awake?" he asked them.

"We know you asked us not to read your mind without your permission, but we had to know that you were alright. We heard you screaming last night, and then Faust appeared next to our cell, blood dripping from his mouth," both men told their commanding officer at the same time.

"Do you forgive us? For reading your mind, I mean?" Carter asked, almost sheepishly since he had broken his promise to his commanding officer.

"I know what I said once, but I'm almost glad that you didn't listen to me." Then, in his customary sarcastic manner, Hogan added, "I'm not going to court-martial you…_this_ time."

Newkirk and Carter allowed themselves to smile, grateful that Faust hadn't killed their commanding officer during his attack. Then, all three men began to think of how they could escape from their prison, as well as wondering when Kinch, LeBeau, and, unbeknownst to Hogan, Klink might show up. _Please let it be soon_ they all thought to themselves at the same time.

…

As the new day dawned, Klink yawned and found that part of him wished he could stay in his hotel bed in Forst (1) a bit longer. The room had been relatively inexpensive, yet comfortable. He found that even though he was starting to feel a bit tired and sore from his long journey, the bed that he had slept in had provided him his best rest since he had departed from Stalag 13. Yet, he knew that he was close to finding his missing prisoners, as the previous night Eagle had noticed that all three men's scents were extremely powerful. _I know they're nearby, but where?_ Eagle had thought to himself. He had even thought about traveling through the night, yet he knew that since Faust was a vampire, he would need both his strength and his wits about him when he confronted the Gestapo agent.

Getting up from his bed, he grabbed the pack that he had placed on a chair and flung it over his back. After he checked out of the hotel, he walked back to the same alley where he had transformed from Eagle into Klink the previous evening. After looking around to make sure that nobody was in sight, Klink hurriedly took the pack off and laid it by his feet, and then began undressing and folded the clothes into his pack. After the transformation was completed, Eagle burrowed under the field pack. Looking up, he briefly noticed that the sun was beginning to rise higher in the sky—yet it wasn't the sun that interested him. _Tonight's the first night of the full moon_ Klink thought to himself. _Please don't let Eagle hurt Colonel Hogan or his men._

Putting his nose into the wind, Klink was relieved that the scents of his missing prisoners were as strong as they had been the previous night. Eagle broke into a full run, desperately hoping to find the men before either, or both, Newkirk or Carter died of starvation. At the same time, he also picked up two familiar scents, which were equally as strong. He knew that Golden and Loup were close behind him, and that he knew they didn't need him picking up their scents.

…

Unbeknownst to any of the three men, the three wolves were traveling to the town of Ottendorf. (1) As soon as Golden and Loup had passed the town of Bergl (1), they had managed to pick up Carter's scent. The two wolves allowed a wave of relief to pass over them, knowing that they would soon be able to rescue Hogan and his two other men. At the same time, they knew that Eagle was traveling in front of them, as they could tell by his scent. _It's important that we always stay downwind of him—we don't need him picking up on our scent._ Of course, they had no way of knowing that Eagle already had.

As Golden and Loup neared the town where they could scent that Hogan and his men were being held prisoners, they had almost surprised themselves that they had been able to pick up the pace so easily. Loup led the way, and he was constantly turning his head to make sure that Golden was following close behind. _We are almost there, mes amis_ the smaller wolf thought to himself. _That filthy Bosch won't have you as his prisoners much longer._

…

Back inside their cells, Hogan noticed that Faust had suddenly appeared. "It's a pity that your men wouldn't tell me about the Angels—we could have saved ourselves a _lot _of trouble last night," the Gestapo agent sinisterly informed Hogan.

"Well, I'm still here, I'm still alive—and I'm glad that my men didn't tell you anything," Hogan calmly informed Faust. Inwardly, however, he was terrified at what the Gestapo agent had done to him last night, and he could only hope that the sergeant wouldn't try again anytime soon.

_We shall see how "alive" you really are after today_ Faust thought to himself. _Tonight, the Colonel dies—or talks_._ Either way, he will have served his purpose._ With those thoughts, Faust allowed himself to walk away, with Hogan watching him leave.

…

As the hours passed, Eagle could sense Klink's urgency at finding his missing men. Suddenly, he found that he was at Ottendorf's border. Sniffing, he saw that there was a house on the outskirts of town—and he was immensely relieved that the three men's scents were the strongest that they had ever been. _Finally!_ he thought to himself. _Hold on Colonel, I'm coming!_ Looking around, Eagle noticed that no German patrols, or anybody else for that matter, seemed to be around. He burrowed out from under his field pack and transformed. He took his clothes out of his pack, and put on his uniform. Next, he pulled his gun out, and after making sure that it was loaded, tucked it inside his jacket. As he approached the house, Klink forced himself to think of nothing, since he knew that Faust would probably be able to read his mind and know that he was coming.

Klink found himself standing outside the house's main door, and was surprised that it wasn't locked. Slowly and quietly he opened it, and walked inside. He could see that it looked like a thousand other houses that belonged to a Gestapo agent. There was a staircase in front of him, and three rooms, one on each side of the stairs, in addition to one right next to it. Before he had changed, Eagle had scented that Hogan and his men were locked up in the room that was to Klink's left, so he quickly turned and walked in, always keeping a watch out for Faust.

From inside his cell, Hogan could hear footsteps approaching. He didn't bother looking up, since he knew that it would probably be his favorite Gestapo sergeant.

"Colonel Hogan, are you alright? Faust didn't hurt you—did he?" Hogan immediately recognized the voice, and turned his head to face his Kommandant. Hogan's eyes grew slightly wide, since Klink was the last person he had expected to face.

"Kommandant, what are you doing here? How did you find us?" Hogan said, getting up to stand next to the cell door. _I don't want to tell him that Faust attacked me last night though_ the Colonel thought to himself. "He only tried to make me talk," Hogan lied, relieved to see that Klink bought it. "I swear, all those Gestapo agents are the same."

"Newkirk and Carter told me where you were," Klink replied, lying in return. _How can I possibly tell him that I'm a werewolf, and that my other side was able to pick up his scent? _"As for what I'm doing here, I should think that's obvious—I'm here to rescue you. But thank goodness that you're alright."

"Klink, boy are we glad to see you!" Carter said, standing next to his cell door by this time. He knew that Newkirk was right beside him, and that his friend was equally relieved at seeing their Kommandant.

"We don't have much time. I don't know where the keys are, so," Klink drew out his gun, "I'm going to shoot the lock open. Stand back." Hogan moved back in his cell against the far wall, and Klink raised his gun.

"Kommandant, look out!" Hogan suddenly shouted. Turning around, Klink could see that Faust was standing directly behind him. The Kommandant had been so busy concentrating on the task at hand that he didn't notice Faust was slowly creeping up behind him. Before he could react, Faust pushed Klink against Hogan's cell door and grabbed his gun, throwing it as far away as he could.

"Colonel Klink? What is the _great coward_ doing here?" Faust asked him, as he raised his hand and grabbed onto the Kommandant's neck before Klink could react. "It doesn't matter. If you're trying to rescue your men, you have failed!"

Klink found that he was quickly losing breath, and he was terrified as he saw Faust's fangs emerge. "I know _exactly_ what to do with you," Faust told him. Suddenly, even though Klink found himself becoming increasingly weak, he raised his knee into Faust's groin. The sudden pain caused Faust to let go of the Kommandant and double over. Klink quickly ran to get his gun, but Faust beat him to it. Bending over to pick up the gun, Faust quickly took it apart and threw the parts out of the hallway. Then, he quickly circled around Klink, and closed the door that separated the hallway from the rest of the house. "As you can see, you have no gun. You have nothing! How could a mere human _possibly_ expect to stop a vampire?" Before Klink could react, he saw that Faust was slowly circling him, since he was studying his next meal. Klink turned his head slightly to face Hogan. Klink could see that the Colonel was showing genuine concern and worry, yet Klink knew that the first thing Faust would have done would remove any guns that his prisoners might have possessed.

_The only way to kill a vampire is to shoot or stake him through the heart…or to bite him_ Klink thought quickly to himself, as he quickly turned back and saw that Faust was still circling him. _Even if I had brought a stake with me, Faust probably would have taken it too….Please help Hogan to understand._

Quickly, Klink threw off his jacket and his shirt. "I can stop you, sergeant, because I am no _mere_ human. These men are my prisoners, not yours—and I won't allow you to keep them locked up."

Hogan let his eyes grow wide as he heard his Kommandant let out a small scream and begin to experience convulsions. Suddenly, right before his eyes, he watched in equal horror and amazement as Klink began to transform into Eagle. _This can't be happening_ the Colonel thought to himself. _Werewolves simply do not exist._ Suddenly, the words that he had once thought to himself came back ringing strongly in his head: _"__Next thing he's going to tell me is that Klink is a werewolf."_ Holding onto his head, he slowly began to shake it back and forth, hoping that what he was seeing was nothing more than a nightmare or hallucination due to the recent blood loss that he had experienced. _I need to stop being so psychic, or weak_, he thought to himself.

Once the transformation was complete, Eagle lunged with all of his strength and ferocity at Faust. The sergeant leaped towards Eagle, his fangs bared and his green eyes shining brightly, and he pinned Eagle on the ground. The werewolf bit Faust hard in the face, which caused him to loosen his grip on his new captive. Then, before the Sergeant could react, Eagle kicked Faust away and was able to pin him down. Faust tried to throw Eagle off of him, but this time, unlike with Carter and Newkirk, Eagle wouldn't allow himself to be stopped. While Faust was still struggling, Eagle quickly grabbed hold of the shirt that was directly above Faust's heart and tore it off. With every bit of strength that he possessed, Eagle tore into Faust's chest and heart.

Hogan watched as the Gestapo agent quickly turned to dust, before he passed out again.

…

Outside of Faust's house, Golden and Loup were slowly circling it. They could scent that Eagle was inside, so they made sure to always stand downwind. They desperately wanted to help their commanding officer and the others, but they knew that they didn't need Klink knowing that they were outside. Loup constantly turned his head to his left to look at Golden, hoping that the sergeant would know what to do.

Suddenly, Golden transformed back into Kinch, so Loup quickly did the same. "We should stay here just long enough to make sure that Klink has rescued the Colonel and the others. Then, we need to start heading back to camp before he sees us."

"Oui, mon ami. I understand," LeBeau replied. Fortunately there was a couple of trees nearby that were downwind of the house, so the men quickly ran to hide behind them, guns drawn at the ready. "I just hope that mon Colonel and the others are safe."

Kinch put a hand on LeBeau. "So do I—so do I."

…

Back inside, Klink searched Faust's house until he found a dustpan, and then walked back to the hallway where the cells were. He scooped up what remained of the sergeant, and then hurried back to a garbage can that he had seen next to where he had found the dustpan. After he had disposed of Faust's body, he hurried back and searched Faust's shirt. Fortunately, the Gestapo agent had hidden the key inside it, so Klink picked it up and quickly opened Newkirk's and Carter's cell.

Once they were safely out, Klink bent and lowered himself while he examined the sergeant's clothes, as well as his own tattered pants that were laying nearby. Looking up, he saw that Hogan was slumped on his bench against the wall. Suddenly, the Kommandant's eyes grew wide as though he was realizing for the first time what he had done, and the consequences of his actions.

Getting up, Klink began to slowly and nervously pace back and forth in the hallway. Turning to face Carter and Newkirk, he asked them, "I don't suppose you two have any beans, do you?"

The two men could only look at their Kommandant quizzically. "No, sir. Why do you ask?" they replied at the same time.

Klink replied while heavily sighing, "Because I think I just spilled them."

(1) Towns courtesy of Google Maps


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen: Home at Last

"I can't believe it. I just can't believe it," Kinch said as he stood next to LeBeau standing behind the trees. The corporal turned to face his friend, and he could see that the sergeant's eyes were completely wide. In fact, LeBeau couldn't remember the last time he had seen his friend so surprised.

"Neither can I, mon ami….It's one thing that Faust was a vampire, but it's another that Klink had to reveal himself." Both LeBeau and Kinch, using their extremely strong powers of hearing, had heard everything that had gone on inside Faust's house. Suddenly, a thought occurred to the corporal—one that he knew he had to share with his friend. "Do you think that mon Colonel will find out our secret as well now? I do not _want_ him to!"

LeBeau felt Kinch place his hand reassuringly on the corporal's shoulder. "I'm not sure, but I do know one thing. Now that Faust is dead, it looks like our job here is done. We have to get back to camp before Klink sees us and wonders what we're doing out here….I never thought I'd say this, but it looks like our Kommandant did a good job here today. I trust, and know, that he'll be able to take care of the rest."

With that, both Kinch and LeBeau took off their clothing and folded them inside their field packs. Then, they transformed back into Golden and Loup, and burrowed under the packs making sure that it was securely wrapped. They didn't know how much time they had before Klink, along with their three teammates, would take in getting out of the house, but they also knew that they couldn't afford to take any chances. Setting off in a dead run, they could only hope that they would be able to make it back to their Stalag in time.

…

Earlier, before Klink had found the dustpan, he had made his way to Faust's bedroom, hoping to find some clothing that would fit him. Thankfully, the sergeant had been the same height and weight as the Kommandant, so the Gestapo uniform that he had found fit him perfectly. Klink's plan was to arrange for transportation between Ottendorf and the nearby town of Schweinfurt (1), which was large enough that it had a train station. From there, they would travel back to Hammelburg, where Klink would arrange for transportation back to Stalag 13. Klink knew that it would be relatively easy to add a fake mustache or beard, so nobody, especially Schultz, would recognize him. At the same time, he knew that he would be able to pass off as a Gestapo agent, who was transporting three prisoners for questioning.

Once he had stopped his pacing, Klink noticed somebody about Hogan, who was still passed out, that he had seemed to miss earlier. Turning to face Carter and Newkirk, he informed them of his worry. "Colonel Hogan seems rather pale. Is everything alright with him?"

Carter and Newkirk looked down at their feet. They knew that Eagle had done everything in his power to find the three missing men, so they were grateful for that. Thus, they were hesitant to explain the awful truth to their Kommandant.

Raising his head, Carter spoke up first. "The Colonel knew that we were dying, so, by sticking his hand out of his cell, around the wall, and into ours, he was able to feed us. Unfortunately, Faust learned what he had done for us, so…" Carter could barely bring himself to finish, but he quietly added "he _attacked_ Colonel Hogan. He _fed_ on him."

"Faust did _what_?" Klink shouted, not bothering to hide his anger towards the dead Gestapo agent.

"Sir, please try to calm yourself," Newkirk told his Kommandant, reaching out to gently grip Klink's shoulder. "We know that tonight is the full moon, and we don't need you losing control of yourself."

Klink allowed Newkirk's hand to rest momentarily, before he started pacing again. "I just can't believe what has happened." Quickly, Klink told Newkirk and Carter his plan for bringing them safely home to Stalag 13. "As soon as we get there, I'll have to arrange for…what is the camp medic's name again?" Klink asked of the two men.

"Sergeant Joseph Wilson," both men said at the same time.

"Right, I'll have to arrange for Sergeant Wilson to give him a blood transfusion as soon as we get there." Sighing, Klink continued. "I know how the Colonel feels about our German hospitals, how suspicious he is of them. Even if I did know of a trustworthy hospital in the area, I know that the Colonel would probably feel safer if he was treated in his own camp."

"You got that right," Hogan informed his Kommandant.

All three men turned to face the Colonel, who by this time had regained consciousness.

Klink gave Hogan his customary smile, even though he was trembling on the inside. _I need to convince Hogan that he didn't see what he thought he saw_ Klink thought to himself. _It's bad enough that he thinks I'm the enemy, so I can't imagine how he'll feel when he knows that I'm a shape shifter._

Quickly, Klink unlocked Hogan's cell and entered it, sitting down next to the Colonel. Hogan immediately backed away, and Klink could see that Hogan appeared slightly terrified of him, in addition to his weak, pale state.

"I know what you're going to tell me, so don't," Hogan calmly informed his Kommandant. "You're going to try to tell me that I didn't see what I thought I saw, that I'm only weak from being locked up for so long." Quietly, he added, "I _know_ what I saw."

"But Carter and Newkirk have just informed me of what Faust did to you. You're probably suffering from too much blood loss, and so you only thought you saw something. In fact, I don't even know what you're talking about."

Looking Klink straight in the eye, Hogan slowly shook his head. "I know that I'm weak, but that doesn't change anything. I _know_ what I _saw,_ and you know _perfectly_ well what I'm talking about."

_It's no use_ Klink thought to himself. _I know how stubborn the Colonel can be, so nothing I say is going to convince him otherwise._

Slowly, Hogan allowed himself to say out loud what he already knew in his head. "You're a, a…"

Jumping up from Hogan's bench, Klink began pacing around in nervous circles inside Hogan's cell. After about thirty seconds he stopped himself, and looked straight at the Colonel. "Well, go ahead—say it! It's not the first time I've been called a… _monster._"

Slowly, Hogan began to shake his head back and forth. "No. I don't know what's going on, and to be honest I don't think I _want_ to know what's going on." Hogan raised his hand and pointed at the remains of Faust's clothes. "I know that you've never been as much of an enemy as Major Hochstetter or General Burkhalter, but at the same time you're not exactly an Allied soldier either." Hogan paused before continuing, "But thanks to you, the _real_ monster in my life has been eliminated."

Klink looked at Hogan with an incredulous expression. "You mean, you're not angry or scared?"

Hogan sighed before replying. "Angry? A little. Scared? Yes ….But you did save my life, as well as those of Carter and Newkirk, and where I come from that counts for something."

Suddenly, Hogan's mind seemed to focus, as he was curious as to how Klink had become a werewolf. "Sir, if you don't mind me asking—how and when?"

Sitting back down, Klink began to tell Hogan his life story, about how he had been attacked by an unknown creature after the Great War. However, Klink left out one very important detail, one that he knew he would _never_ be able to tell his American counterpart. Finishing his story, Klink lied, "But don't worry—I've always been able to control my condition." The Kommandant knew that Hogan would never understand that this wasn't the case without becoming completely terrified, and that Hogan didn't need to know what had happened in his office after Hochstetter had left recently. "I would never hurt you or your men," Klink truthfully told him.

Hogan allowed himself to digest his Kommandant's story, and found that he had to fight to keep himself from fainting again. Pointing a finger at Klink, Hogan informed him, "That's good. Because if you ever, and I mean _ever,_ hurt me or one of my men, you're going to wish that I _had_ allowed you to be shipped off to the Russian Front."

Klink nodded. "I understand that your duty comes to your men. You don't need to remind me of that."

Suddenly, a thought occurred to Hogan. "Carter, Newkirk, come in here. I think we need to have a little talk." Hogan was pleased that his men shuffled inside the cell.

In a calm manner, Hogan asked them, "How long have you two known about this? Why didn't you ever tell me?"

Newkirk spoke up first, "Pretty much as soon as I arrived at Stalag 13, Gov'nor. But I'm surprised that you would ask that second question."

Not quite understanding, Hogan could only ask, "Why?"

Carter replied, "First of all, would you believe us? Second, you would want to know how we knew. I mean, we couldn't exactly tell you that we were vampires right off, could we?"

Hogan shook his head, "No, I suppose not."

Newkirk and Carter sighed at the same time. _It's important that we keep our two lives separate_ they thought at the same time. _The Colonel doesn't know that Klink is Nimrod, and we can't exactly tell Klink in front of the Colonel that we were able to sneak out of his Stalag and kill Colonel Magerlein either._ Both men could see that Hogan had more questions, but they inwardly sighed that he decided to let the matter drop for now.

"We better get going, sir," Carter informed his commanding officer. "You're going to need some blood replacement as soon as possible." Quietly, both men added at the same time, "We don't need you to have survived Faust's attack only to lose you now."

Suddenly, Hogan let out a slight moan and his hand shot up to his neck. He could see that all three men were genuinely concerned about him. "What is it?" Carter and Newkirk asked at the same time.

"The wound hurts, and I believe you're both correct. I'd like to get home to Stalag 13 as soon as possible."

Lowering his hand, he could see that Newkirk and Carter were leaning in for a closer inspection. They gasped as they saw the two puncture marks left over from Faust's fangs during the attack.

Upon hearing his men gasp, Hogan asked them, "It's not bad, is it?" Hogan then turned over his arm to look at his left wrist. Already he could see that the puncture marks were beginning to heal although they were leaving a nasty purple bruise behind.

"It's as bad as can be expected, but thankfully no worse," both men told him. It was then Hogan realized the slip-up that he had made. Turning to face Klink, he said, "I suppose that even if Carter and/or Newkirk didn't tell you that Faust attacked me, you know now. That's another reason that I'm thankful that you came in the nick of time." Hogan smiled as he turned his head slightly to face Carter and Newkirk, "Besides, I think I'm beginning to learn, or know, too much to be incapable of handling the truth."

Klink allowed a small smile to form, before he replied, "But your men are right, Hogan. We need to get you home _now_."

Slowly, Hogan got up from his bench. "I think that's the best idea yet. Come on." Though Hogan didn't like his men knowing how weak he was, he allowed himself to be led out of the cell, and then through and out of the house with Carter supporting him. "There's still one thing that I don't understand," Hogan said, raising his hand to shield his eyes to the sunlight that he was unaccustomed to due to being locked up for so long. "How do we explain Faust's death, without revealing any of your secrets?"

Klink, who had been walking next to Carter on one side while Newkirk was on the Colonel's other side, turned to face the sergeant. Carter returned his gaze, since that was one thing that they hadn't thought about yet. Carter then turned to face Newkirk _Yeah, we can't exactly set up another car accident, like we did with Colonel Magerlein's body. After all, we don't _have _a body_, the sergeant silently thought to his friend.

Newkirk responded by rubbing the back of his neck. For once, he didn't mind if the Colonel could come up with a suitable answer, yet he knew that the Colonel was in no condition to think of a plan at the moment.

"Well, we are in a bloody war, and men go missing in action all of the time," Newkirk carefully replied. "I don't see why the same thing couldn't 'appen to Faust, if anybody bothers to check up on a lowly sergeant." Quickly, he added, "No offense Carter."

Carter feigned being hurt before he answered Newkirk, "Gee, thanks…But no offense taken."

Hogan then turned back to Klink, "And just how do you expect to get us home? If anybody finds out that we've been away from Stalag 13 all this time, how do you explain that? I don't exactly want to see snowflakes in your future."

It was then that Klink told Hogan of his plan that, since he was dressed up as a Gestapo officer, he would make it look like he had taken Hogan and his men away from Kommandant Brown's Stalag for questioning. "Besides, you have to remember that Faust was acting alone, and that Kommandant Brown never authorized the painting job, let alone the fact that he asked for you five. I left explicit instructions with my replacement officer not to telephone the Kommandant to ask about your progress, and this man has always seemed like the type to follow his instructions to the letter. Of course, I'll arrange for Schultz to meet us at the train station in Hammelburg, and," Klink allowed himself to smile before he finished, "as you know, he never knows _anything._"

Hogan allowed himself to smile, as his Kommandant seemed to have thought of everything necessary for them to enter their camp without arousing suspicion. He also knew that Kinch and LeBeau were alright, since his men had informed them that they were coming to rescue him. Looking around, he saw that his other two men were nowhere in sight. _They must have left as soon as they saw Klink, me, Carter and Newkirk_ he thought to himself. _Even though they were kidnapped, they would know that they couldn't allow anybody to know that they could slip away from everybody without revealing our Traveler's Aid Society._

…

Fortunately, the drive to the train station, and the train ride itself, was mostly uneventful. Once they had found the main road between Ottendorf and Schweinfurt, Klink had flagged down a passing motorist and explained that he needed transportation to the latter town due to "official Gestapo business." Once at the train station, Klink was relieved that the ticket officer didn't question him when he asked for four tickets to Hammelburg. Once they were safely inside their compartment, the four men sat in silence for several hours, though the others all took turns watching over Hogan as he gently dozed off-and-on. Just as they were about to enter Hammelburg, however, they could all hear what sounded like a familiar voice.

"Bah! They are not in here either. We'll have to check the next compartment for those Underground agents."

Suddenly, all four men froze and pretended to be busy concentrating on the passing scenery, since they were in a compartment that had a window. _Leave it to Hochstetter to interrupt a perfect plan_ they all thought at the same time. Nobody needed to tell them that the next compartment was their own, and that the Major would recognize all four men immediately.

Suddenly, they could hear a set of footsteps running down the hallway just as Hochstetter was about to open the compartment, his hand on the doorknob. Since the compartment was shielded from the outside, they knew that Hochstetter hadn't seen the men's backs, which he might have recognized.

A second voice, which was unfamiliar to any of the men in the compartment, caught the Gestapo Major's attention. "Herr Major, I have found the underground agents that we are looking for, the ones that you said blew up the bridge in Dusseldorf."

"Excellent work, sergeant." Sighing, Hochstetter continued, "I'm just glad that Hogan and his men weren't responsible for this bombing…_for once_." With that, the Major let go of the doorknob and hurried off, following the sergeant's lead.

"Boy, that was a close one!" Carter quietly exclaimed, as he allowed himself to take a breath after all four men had been holding them in.

"I know. Still, I hope that whoever the Major found will be safe," Hogan responded, having stopped dozing for the moment. Silently, Hogan wished that he could help whoever Hochstetter was looking for, yet he knew that he couldn't for two very important reasons: One- He was in no condition to get up from his seat before he arrived in Hammelburg, yet alone be of much use to anybody or to confront Hochstetter and Two- he knew that he couldn't risk revealing himself in front of Klink as an espionage agent. Hogan then turned to face his Kommandant, and he was relieved that Klink seemed to be oblivious to his last sentence.

…

Once they had arrived in Hammelburg, Hogan allowed himself to be led from the compartment by both Newkirk and Carter, since he found that he was extremely weak at the moment. Quickly, they approached Schultz, who appeared genuinely concerned at Hogan's poor condition. Hogan found that once again, he passed out in the backseat of their car, with Schultz driving as fast as he could back to Stalag 13 after Carter informed him that the Colonel was suffering from major blood loss.

The next time Hogan awoke he found himself in the infirmary with Wilson acting his typical mother-hen self. Looking to his right, Hogan found that he was attached to an IV, and looking to his left, he found that Wilson had begun a blood transfusion. As the blood was quickly being pumped into Hogan's arm, he found that his health was remarkably improving. Looking in front of him, he saw that all four of his men were gathering around him.

"You had us worried for a minute there, sir. Carter and Newkirk told us what Faust did to you, and we were afraid that we were going to lose you," Kinch informed his commanding officer.

Hogan could see that all three men nodded their agreement. Turning his head, he looked directly at Wilson. "How long do I have to stay here this time, sergeant?"

Wilson allowed himself to smile, since he knew that if Hogan wanted to leave the infirmary that he was already feeling better. "If everything goes according to plan, you should be able to leave in a couple of days."

Looking directly at Kinch and LeBeau, Hogan allowed himself to smile. "I'm glad that Faust didn't hurt you two." Suddenly, as he felt the blood going into his veins, he had to close his eyes.

The next couple of days passed quickly and uneventfully, and true to his word, Wilson allowed Hogan to be released. The first thing that Hogan did as soon as he got out of the infirmary was to go back to his quarters. Sighing, he found himself grabbing a mirror. He hated what Faust did to him, more than his men could possibly know at the moment. He hated how much he had loved the blood entering his veins, since he knew that he wasn't supposed to feel that way. But most of all, he hated how he had felt it necessary to close his eyes. _I don't want my men to feel guilty, especially Carter and Newkirk. I don't need them knowing how much damage Faust really did to me, especially since they were right there and they couldn't stop the Gestapo agent._ Hogan threw the mirror down on his bed, and he was relieved that it didn't make any noise.

Opening his previously closed door that separated the barracks from his quarters, he saw that Carter and Newkirk were sitting around the table in the barracks, along with Hogan's other men, drinking their extra-sugar coffee. _I'm going to need their help eventually, but not now. Not like this_ he silently thought to himself. Closing the door, he picked up the mirror again. Sighing, Hogan saw that even thinking about the blood transfusion in the infirmary made his eyes glow green and his upper canine fangs come out.

(1) Town, and knowledge of train station, courtesy of Google Maps

AN: If you've enjoyed this story, look for the continuing adventures of our favorite vampires and werewolves in the sequel, "A Changing of the Future." How will Hogan deal with his new life? The first chapter should be published sometime tomorrow.


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